


Danganronpa: Chaotic Paradise

by UltimateCompletionist



Series: Danganronpa: Chaotic Paradise [1]
Category: Danganronpa
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hope's Peak Academy (Dangan Ronpa), F/F, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-10-09
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 17:41:54
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 7
Words: 26,942
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26911582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UltimateCompletionist/pseuds/UltimateCompletionist
Summary: Nayoko Sumadera gets called into the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Game Developer, she joins in belief of discovering new things about herself and gaining some friends and knowledge in the process. However, instead she learns horrible truths about her classmates and the things they, as well as Nayoko herself, are capable of doing to themselves and others.Welcome to my own Fangan, starring a cast of 16 girls, yes all girls! I'm striving for a bit darker than canon danganronpa and I have a thing for being descriptive at times so dont cringe too much!
Series: Danganronpa: Chaotic Paradise [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1963612
Kudos: 2





	1. Prologue

The cold breeze tugs at my braids, attempting to pull them along despite being too heavy to be moved by the wind’s weak grasp. I bite my lip and look up at the tall building, sealed behind the large metal gate in front of me. At the very top of the building, on the very face of it, hangs the famous Hope’s Peak Academy crest. The school for only the most exceptionally talented students. Only those who are the absolute best in what they do can attend this school.

And I am… I am… “What am I, again?” I reach into my dark grey shoulder-bag and, after a while, retrieve the letter that had brought me here. I hold it in my hands, the paper feels strangely soft against my skin. I reread the letter once more;

**“Ms. Nayoko Sumadera**

**Once again, we here at Hope’s Peak Academy congratulate you on being accepted into this year’s class of Ultimate Students, as the Ultimate Game Developer. Included is an orientation guide for Hope’s Peak Academy. We hope you’ll make the best of your time while attending.**

**\- Jin Kirigiri”**

I take a deep breath. In… And out… “Remain calm, I have to be professional… Oh who am I kidding?” I grin, who could stay calm in a moment such as this? Who could stay calm when they are officially known as an Ultimate? No one, that’s who. I carefully fold the letter and put it back in my bag as I approach the gate. I reach my hand out towards it and push it… However, it doesn’t move.

“That’s strange… I thought for sure it would be open…” I sigh and turn around, perhaps it wasn’t to me after all. Perhaps it was to some other game developer with the exact same name as me.

Suddenly, I hear a loud noise behind me, as if someone had ran straight into the huge gate. A very up-beat voice soon followed: “Hey! Why are you leaving?”

I turn and face the source of the voice, a girl around my age is smiling at me, her light purple hat and jacket shine through the bars of the gate. That looks way too warm. “Uhm, I… Is the gate locked?” I feel incredibly stupid for asking, not only did I already confirm that it was locked but-

The gate opens.

“Nope! It’s open!” The girl beams at me and, without waiting for me to react, she grabs my hand and leads me through the gate. Her hands are incredibly cold, as if her blood had been replaced with ice, I think I now understand why she’s dressed in winter-clothes despite it being early August. She leads me all the way to the front door to the academy itself before stopping and looking at me.

“Who are you?” Her dark blue eyes examine me from head to toe with a mixture of curiosity and excitement.

_‘Isn’t that what you should ask before you let them in?’_

“I, uhm, my name is Nayoko Sumadera. And you are…?”

_‘Incredibly cute,'_ the thought was involuntary, but stayed true to fact that stood before me.

She lets go of my hand and smiles at me once again, “I am Atsuko Saito! Oh!” Her face changes suddenly and a look of realization spreads across it, “You won!”

“Won? Won what?”

“You must’ve won something, right? The lottery, maybe?”

I shake my head hesitantly, “N-no, I’ve never won the lottery…”

She makes a rather grumpy face and crosses her arms across her chest, “Well there must be something you’ve won, right? Or…” She lowers her arms and thinks for a moment, “Or maybe you’re like me!”

“Like… like you? What do you mean?” Had it not been for that last part, I would’ve been able to tell her that there is in fact something I have won, but alas, it’s too late.

She strikes a strangely confident pose, one of pride and fearlessness, “I don’t have any talent!” She grins at me.

_‘God, that’s depressing.’_

“You don’t? Wait, wait, wait. You mean you… wait. How are you here then? Reserve Course?”

She shakes her head, “Nope. I’m just here! It makes one of the girls absolutely livid knowing that I’m here without any real reason!”

“One of the girls? Oh, so there are more people here? Where are they?” It makes me both happy and sad knowing that there are more people, possibly new Ultimates, here. Happy because that means I don’t have to wait for more people, but also sad when I think about how Atsuko might be the only one who doesn’t have an Ultimate. I wonder how she’s able to be so prideful about that fact…?

Suddenly, she grabs me again and pulls me through the entrance and into the building. As soon as we enter, we’re greeted by a big crowd of students, a big crowd of - possibly - new Ultimates, a big crowd of…

Girls. Just girls, not a boy in sight. Actually, there is one. He’s standing by himself, avoiding the rest of the students, the giant flower in his hair makes it hard to not see him.

One of them steps forward. She’s really tall and her intimidating glare - half of which is covered by her long, light brown fringe - makes me feel like she’s about to lecture me for hours. Her voice only confirms this as it’s sharp and slightly aggressive; “It took you long enough! All you had to do was open the gate and let her in, which should only take a few seconds. What took you so long? Were you telling each other your life-stories?”

The girl behind her puts a hand on her shoulder and speaks in a much calmer voice; “There, there Rosetta, no need to yell. Maybe Atsuko was just curious about her.”

Rosetta doesn’t take her chocolate brown eye away from me and Atsuko, but the shorter girl’s words seem to have calmed her down, at least a bit. She sighs, “Alright, maybe you’re right,” She takes a deep breath and approaches us, her head high and she speaks again, a bit calmer this time, but…

“Sono Rosetta D'Angelo, sono conosciuta come l'Ultimate Ballerina”

I blink. “E-excuse me?” A second ago I understood her just fine but now it’s as if she’s speaking a different language to me.

She sighs again, slightly annoyed, “I’m Rosetta D’Angelo, I’m known as the Ultimate Ballerina. There? Have you never heard Italian before?”

_‘Rosetta D’Angelo, italy… I knew the name Rosetta rang a bell! Oh man, she’s not as smooth in real life as she is on stage it seems…’_

“A-ah, sorry. I was just… I didn’t expect… Uhm, you to change languages like that… I-I’m a big fan of your shows.” I almost feel stupid for not recognizing her, she’s practically the very face of ballet in itself.

She gives me a look of both disinterest and disapproval, I can’t tell if it’s for not recognizing her or for just plain existing.

“If you’re such a big fan, I shouldn’t even have had to introduce myself.”

The shorter girl approaches us and smiles at us before speaking:

“You’ll have to excuse my dear sister, Rosetta doesn’t like when people are late and it tends to affect her general mood. She’s much sweeter once you get to know her,” she reaches her hand out to me, inviting me for a handshake. “My name is Gilda D’Angelo, I’m Rosetta’s little sister.”

“Nice to meet you, Gilda. I’m Nayoko Sumadera,” I smile at her, however the fact that she’s somehow the younger sibling seems strange to me. It might have to do with the light grey color of her braided hair and general choice of clothing acting as a contradiction to that fact.

Rosetta opens her mouth to speak when suddenly she stumbles forward as if she’d been pushed from behind. Once she turns around, I see that this is indeed the case. She glares at her tiny attacker and almost hisses at her: “Moto, I swear to Christ, you may be blind but you knew VERY WELL that I was standing here!”

The girl laughs and a mischievous grin spreads across her lips, which is the only part of her face not covered by her long fringe, “Tsususu~ Oops, sorry Rosetta, I couldn’t see you behind that huge ego of yours~!” Before Rosetta could grab her, the girl ducks and runs over to me and hides behind me. She giggles, “Ah~ This should be enough to protect me against all that self-centeredness!”

I turn my head and look at the girl, she barely reaches up to my shoulders in height and her fluffy dark hair looks like it could act as a helmet. She looks up at me and smiles, “Nay, you’re a game dev, right?”

“A-ah yes, I am. How did you-” She cuts me off before I can finish my question.

“I haven’t played any of your games but I have played a really cool dating sim made in the same engine as most of your games,” she says as she wraps her rather skinny arms around my waist and buries her face in the back of my jacket. I can just barely make out the words: “I don’t care much for the dating aspect, I just want the good stuff.”

“Right… Uhm, who are you?” I feel slightly rude, asking it in that way, however I do feel like I have the right to know who’s currently sniffing my jacket.

She lets go of me, but only a little bit, and speaks with that lisp of hers: "The stars will spell my name when I leave this place... They will cease to shine when my spirit dies... But only the tears of Hibiki Moto, the Ultimate Astronomer, will put out the sun..."

I hear one of the girls laugh and say “That’s deep, Hibiki. That’s real deep.”

Personally I just think it’s kind of creepy. But at least now I know to say “Hibiki, can you please stop touching my boobs…”

She groans and lets go of my chest, “You’re no fun…” she says as she walks over to the rest of the girls. One of them, tall and with a very… appealing figure, crosses her arms over her chest and starts scolding Hibiki who dismisses it with a “Yeah, yeah, I hear ya, melon.”

She sighs at the comment, however I can’t help but notice how fitting that nickname is for her, seeing as her hair is as green as a watermelon, and, well…

The melon lady shakes her head at me, as if she had heard my thoughts, “Tomoko Hisakawa, however Hibiki has a tendency of calling me… well, Melon-mom ever since she realized I, and I quote: “Got some real nice melons” on me.”

I can’t help but laugh, Tomoko’s deep, yet motherly voice is not something that you’d ever expect to say the phrase “melon-mom” and yet, it’s the best thing I’ve ever heard. Atsuko on the other hand looks confused, “But, how are you able to hide a melon on you? Or more, for that matter? Your pockets are way too small to be able to fit several melons in!”

Hibiki grins, “I was talking about th-” but right as she’s about to reach up to Tomoko’s chest to demonstrate, she’s suddenly floating in mid-air. But, on closer inspection, I see that the flower-haired boy has grabbed her by the back of her dress and lift her high off the ground, making Tomoko’s ‘melons’ out of reach. Hibiki kicks her legs angrily, “Hey! Who did that?! Put me down!!!”

The boy shakes his head and carries Hibiki away from Tomoko, sitting her down in the corner of the room before speaking in a surprisingly feminine voice: “This is the last time I’ll tell you to leave the nanny alone, Hibiki. Next time, I won’t just lift you.”

I can just barely hear Hibiki muttering “Goddamn garden-elf…” as she crosses her arms over her chest, pouting like a small child.

The ‘Garden-elf’ leans down and, if it hadn’t been for Hibiki’s fringe covering them, looks her straight in the eyes before speaking: “I swear, if you call me that one more time. I have a name you know and I’d like you to call me by it, alright?”

Hibiki groans, “Fiiine, Pett-”

“Etsucho, say it. Say Etsucho for God’s sake.”

“You know,” Hibiki says, ignoring Etsucho’s request, “For a gardener, you sure are aggressive. And for being a girl, you sure are-”

“Zip it,” Etsucho cuts her off with a hiss, turns and walks away from Hibiki. But then something hits me, if Etsucho’s a girl, then we’re seemingly a class of 16 girls. No boys…?

Someone confronts Etsucho, someone tall and rather beautiful, someone who looks like she was born from a family of mermaids. She starts talking to Etsucho, however she must be either whispering, or her voice is very low, since despite the fact that they’re not too far away, I can’t hear a single word. In fact, I can’t hear anything. Everything around me has gone silent, however not because no one is talking, in fact, everyone seems to be chatting with each other. It’s as though this mermaid woman has muted the world around me as she cast me a gaze. Her bright yellow eyes capturing me, keeping me from looking away. I can’t help but just stand there and stare, I don’t know for how long but after what feels like an eternity, I hear the sound of someone snapping their fingers and I regain focus.

The woman stands right in front of me, a smug smirk resting on her lips. She reaches her hand out to mine and takes it, not for a handshake, but instead she raises my hand to her lips and kisses it like how a gentleman would. She looks at me through her half-lidded eyes, opens her mouth, and speaks in a voice so calm, so peaceful it almost feels like a waltz, her words dancing in the air: “Ayase Matsuyama. I presume you’re the famous Sumadera I’ve heard so much about~? Your games have all been fantastic, each and every one a new yet welcoming and enjoyable experience.”

I simply nod, it’s as though I’ve lost my ability to speak, as though by taking my hand, she’s taken my voice with it. She chuckles, “People tend to react like this after I’ve hypnotized them for the first time, don’t worry, you’ll grow out of it rather quickly~”

_‘Hypnotized…? Is that what this is… Is that why everything around me has simply fallen out of existence, leaving only me and Ayase alone in this huge room previously filled with other students…?’_

“W-wait… So you’re-”

“I am the Ultimate Hypnotist, yes~”

I feel like this reveal should scare me, worry me. If this is the power she holds, I should fear her, shouldn’t I? But, is there really a reason to? She’s not using it for evil, she’s simply making sure I don’t get distracted by needless background noise during our conversation, is all.

“Rather relaxing, is it not~? Every single bad thought, all worries, each flaw in the world, gone. Taken away by a nice, gentle breeze, carried to a place far away from here, leaving only the calm wonders of this world to soothe you, just like my voice is doing right now~” Her voice, while still as low and calm, traps me in this wondrous state, it’s one I wish I could be in for longer, forever if possible. And it is possible, I’m sure Ayase would be happy to oblige if I only asked-

A loud, high pitched cry tears me away from the paradise of silence. It sounds like a child’s cry. I spin around and notice Hibiki has moved from her Time-Out corner and is laughing in that weird, sort of evil way of hers. In front of her stands a very dark-clothed girl, everything apart from her pale skin and the purple streak in her hair is of dark colors. Even her bright red eye, the one not covered by her eyepatch, while not dark, the look it’s giving Hibiki sure is. Behind her stands another girl, around Hibiki’s height, but apart from that, they’re like night and day, complete opposites. She seems to be crying, I’m guessing from the sounds she’s making, as she is covering her face with her small hands.

“Scaredy cat! Scaredy cat!” Hibiki chants, the other girl tries to respond but her sobs drown out her words, causing Hibiki to laugh some more. The other girl, however, does not, but does not speak, either for that matter. She just glares at Hibiki, like how an alpha male would at his challenger.

Hibiki continues with her teasing: “For a horror writer, you sure are as easy to scare as the small child you-”

The taller girl has had enough, she grips the front of Hibiki’s dress with a steady hand and hisses at her like a snake: “I dare you to finish that sentence. I dare you. Do it, and I’ll have you see your coffin before you can blink.”

“Bitch, I’m blind, I can’t see anything either way!”

“That’s it,” she lifts her off the ground much like Etsucho had done earlier, however despite the fact that UNLIKE Etsucho, she’s missing a lot of visible muscle, yet her arm is as steady as can be. I can already tell what’s about to happen as I see her ready her body for the throw. But before she can do so, the smaller girl grips her free hand and, with a high, pleading voice says: “Please Mitsu… Please don’t kill her! We didn’t come here to kill, we came here to learn and make new friends!”

Mitsu stops mid-motion and looks from the girl, to Hibiki, then back at the girl. She forces a small smile on her lips, “Alright, I won’t kill her.” While that’s where her mouth stopped the sentence, her eyes continue it with a menacing “Yet” however, the smaller one does not seem to notice it, instead she smiles back up at Mitsu as she “carefully” puts Hibiki down on the ground, which conveniently causes her to stumble over and land on her butt.

Mitsu puts her hand on the small girl’s head and ruffles her long, wavy golden hair slightly, bringing a giggle out of her little friend. She suddenly notices me staring and excitedly skips over to me, her long, dark pink dress flowing with her every step. She stops as she reaches me and smiles. “Hello!”

“H-hello! Who are you? I-I mean, what’s your name?”

“I’m Seijun Ryuzaki!”

“... Excuse me?”

She gives me a confused look, however I’m the one who’s the most confused right now. If this is THE Seijun Ryuzaki, then that means… I remember what Hibiki had said earlier about her being a…

Horror writer.

This tiny little bright pink girl is who’s known throughout all of Japan, no, probably the whole world, as the Princess of Horror. One who has written such gruesome, such nightmare-inducing horror stories that even the most fearless of men lay crying underneath their beds. This… This small child is…

“Oh, yeah… I’m the Ultimate Horror Novelist, very few people actually believe me when I tell them who I am because of my appearance, so I don’t blame you for not doing so either.”

It’s rather funny how I fear this innocent looking girl more than I fear the actual hypnotist I just met. Hopefully I’ll get over it…

She points over to Mitsu, who is shooting glares at Hibiki, “That’s Mitsu Homura! She’s an archer!”

The fact that, what must be the Ultimate Archer, wears an eyepatch while doing a sport that requires great eyesight is quite interesting to me. I wonder if it’s a fashion accessory or…

“So, who’s left?” Atsuko asks as she approaches me.

“Left…?”

“We are 16 in total, but… I can’t seem to put my finger on who’s missing…”

“I think Masuren and Shizuka ran off somewhere, and I believe Chizuru had to use the bathroom. However I don’t know where the other three are,” Tomoko says.

“Well I don’t know where the others are either but we’re back!” A freckle-faced girl with bright red hair enters the room, behind her walks a much taller girl with long black and blue streaked hair that curls in every direction. Just by looking at their faces, I can see the clear differences between the two’s personalities.

I stop. I swear I’ve seen the red haired girl before, and recently too. But where... ?

“So, Oku stalked Chizu into the toilets, huh~? Naughty~” Hibiki giggles and manages to dodge Mitsu’s hand as she tries to grab her.

The tall girl blushes furiously and begins stuttering, “D-don’t say t-that… I-I just needed h-help finding it…” She turns her head so that her long fringe, which already covers half of her face, is now acting as a wall to hide the rest of her rosy pink blush. The red haired girl wraps her arm around her friend’s waist and says to Hibiki: “Oi, stop teasing Chizuru like that, it’s not nice.”

Hibiki shakes her head and grins, “Why do you think I do it? I *know* it’s not nice, that’s what makes it fun! Plus, Chizu sounds sooo cute when she’s embarrassed~!”

I can hear Chizuru whispering to her friend: “A-Anni, you don’t h-have to feel o-obligated to defend me…”

Anni? Anni Oku… Anni Okura? Wait-

“Wait, are **_YOU_ **Anni Okura?” I say excitedly as I rush over to her. She smiles and nods, “Yep, that’s me! Ultimate Singer!”

“I’m such a big fan of your songs! I’ve been saving up for ages to be able to get tickets to one of your concerts but they’re always sold out within seconds! I mean, I don’t blame people for it, you make amazing songs and you sing them so good-! _Love Yourself Like I Love You_ is my all time favorite song and I-” I can’t help myself, the fact that I’m going to be in the same class as my favorite singer is so amazing! I wonder if it’d be inappropriate to ask for an autograph…

Anni just laughs, she doesn’t seem even remotely bothered by my enthusiasm. Instead, she seems welcoming of it. I’m surprised that she hasn’t gotten sick of praise, she must get so many letters from fans daily.

“I’m glad you like my music! It’s always fun to hear what people have to say about it, whether it’s good or bad,” she says with a smile.

Chizuru, on the other hand, seems very uncomfortable and slightly stressed out. She’s completely avoiding eye-contact with everyone and keeps fiddling with her hands nervously before nudging Anni gently. Anni seems to understand exactly what Chizuru wants as she whispers something to her and smiles. Chizuru nods and hurries out of the room. Anni looks at me again, “She is not very comfortable around a big group of people. She’s rather shy.”

“Forgive me for asking but, who is she…?”

“Chizuru Tsukada, she’s a veterinarian!”

“She reminds me of a fluffy rabbit…” the words leave my mouth before I can stop myself. Why did I say that???

Anni just laughs, “Cute and shy? I totally agree with you, don’t worry!”

_‘Phew…’_

“So, we’re missing Masuren, Shizuka, Ryo and…?”

“Coffee-lady,” Hibiki responds, but after hearing an aggressive clap from Mitsu, corrects herself: “Sabitsuki…”

“Ah, right, her. I wonder where she went…” Anni crosses her arms over her blue shirt-vest and looks around. Mitsu steps forward, “Want me to fetch them?” Anni nods at her and Mitsu leaves the room to find the three, and we wait.

What must’ve been 20 minutes later, I hear cheerful laughter from the corridor. I highly doubt it’s from Mitsu. And I’m correct in doubting that.

In comes the most pink girl I have ever seen, everything from her hair to her boots are a shade of pink, red or purple. Even her eyes. And almost everything on her is heart-shaped… Even her hair and chest… The girl claps gleefully as she sees me, “Ohohoho! Hello there~! Hm, let’s see here…~” She quickly approaches me and starts examining me from head to toe, walking in a circle around me and writing down notes in a notebook that she must’ve kept somewhere. “Green eyes, a lot of people like that! Braids is quite cute as well~! Oooh~! And glasses, too! Ohoho, I bet you get a lot of admirers, don’tcha?”

“I… uhm… N-no…?” What on Earth is this girl doing...

“Oh? Perhaps you’re just not seeing them, hm… Name, please?” She readies her pen once again.

“N-Nayoko Sumadera, I-”

“Perfect! Thank you so much! I’ll do my absolute best to find you the perfect partner! You just let me know if you’re looking for a specific type and I’ll get on with it right away!” She beams at me, clutching the notebook to her chest.

“Wait, hold on for a moment please! I-I’m not looking for a partner! B-besides, who are you even?”

She snaps her fingers in realization, “Oh right!” She takes a small bow, “I am Masuren Sasaki, I make a living as a Matchmaker and, I’m proud to say that I have never failed a living soul! But, you can call me Masu if you want~!”

_‘A living soul, for some reason that makes me feel a little bit unsettled…’_

“R-right, Masu…” I secretly wish for someone else to come in so that she’ll stop “researching” me… Thankfully, luck is on my side today. Another girl, very tan and with light blue hair and a full scuba-diver outfit on, enters the room. The mask she’s wearing is covering her nose and mouth, making only her bright blue eyes and eyebrows visible, however even then, I can tell she’s annoyed.

“Masu! You ran off without me! I couldn’t find you!”

Masuren looks over at the new girl, “Oops, sorry Shi! I just got so excited when Mitsu told us that there’s a new potential client for me!”

“That’s not what she said. She told us that we have to hurry back because the last student has arrived.”

“Don’t sweat the details~”

The girl rolls her eyes and looks at me, giving me a wave, “Shizuka Yamashita!”

“Let me guess, you’re a scuba diver…?”

She puts her hands to her cheeks in fake surprise, “How did you know!?”

“Just a hunch,” I smile at her. She seems rather cool, a little bit loud, but happy.

“You’re Nayoko, yes? Mitsu told me who you were after Masu had ran off.”

I nod at her, honestly quite happy to not have to repeat my introduction over and over.

After a while, Mitsu comes back into the room, and behind her is the most… in-need-of-sleep woman I have ever seen. Her black hair is standing out in all directions, her purple jacket is barely hanging on her shoulder, her wide eyes have dark circles underneath them which are hard to miss on her pale skin. She looks destroyed.

“I found Ryo as well but she’s refusing to come with me. She said that she’d rather wait in the gym, for what reason is beyond me,” Mitsu tells us. “I think it’s best if we go there as well.”

Everyone seems to agree and we make our way to the gym. The sleepless woman is walking next to me, her eyes seem to be staring at something a million miles away. I lean over and whisper to her, “Hi, what’s your name?” She seems rather startled for a second, as if she hadn’t even noticed I was there. After a couple of seconds, she responds: “Sabitsuki… Takara… Psychologist…” She doesn’t even look at me as she speaks, through. For being a psychologist, she sure doesn’t seem to be fond of talking. “Mitsu… told me your… name…” She says before increasing her walking speed and hurrying ahead. She’s strange, to say the least…

After a couple of minutes of walking, we finally reach the wide doors to the gym and we all, one at a time, enter the huge room to see…

16 chairs, 15 of which are empty. The 16th one is taken by a beautiful, graceful looking woman in a long red dress. She spots us and smiles, her icy blue eyes sending chills down my spine. She stands up and walks over to Mitsu, who looks much less interested in the woman than I am. Mitsu starts talking to her, however, they’re too far away for me to be able to hear what either of them are saying. But the ice-eyed woman just smiles and waves her hand at Mitsu in a dismissive manner. Mitsu, of course, does not take well to this, but keeps quiet.

The woman turns to the rest of us and, once again, smiles as she bows. “Good day, class. I am Ryo Tsuruga and-” her deep voice is like an echo, yet much more controlled.

Mitsu rolls her eyes, “Ryo, I know you’re an actress and all but, could you stop pretending to be our teacher?”

Ryo’s smile fades, but only for a moment, before she reaches into one of her long white gloves and pulls out a light pink rose. She hands it to Mitsu, “Here’s your autograph, dear. Now, please let me finish talking.”

Mitsu shakes her head and, as soon as Ryo has turned around again, lets go of the rose, letting it fall down to the polished gym floor. As soon as the flower hits the floor, the lights in the gym cut out, leaving the 16 of us in a pitch black room and, after a while, panic.

As we’re all running around trying to find each other, a loud whistle fills our ears. Following that is a voice, so indescribably evil-spirited yet cheerful, so high-pitched and so sudden that I can’t help but let out a gasp.

“Hello girls! Now, now please! Stop panicking and take a seat~! The show is about to begin!”

Spotlights are pointed towards the 16 chairs as an indication to where to sit. After a long pause of hesitation, each and every one of us slowly makes our way over to them and sits down, scared of what’s to come.

_‘The show? Is that what Ryo was going to say? But, that voice was so completely different from hers that it’s near impossible to have been her… Right?’_

I look over my shoulder and see Ryo sitting elegantly, back straight, head high, and yet another pink rose in her hands. Mitsu mentioned she’s an actress and, now that I think about it, I might’ve seen her once or twice in movies, both in my least favorite genre: romance. The look on her face is unreadable, I can’t tell if it’s confusion, anticipation, excitement or boredom. It’s all at once yet none at all.

Behind her, between Mitsu and Ayase, I see Seijun nervously fiddling with her brown teddy bear, clutching it close to her chest as if asking it to protect her. Ayase raises her hand to pat Seijun on the head, but Mitsu pushes it away, obviously not fond of Ayase’s ‘intruding’ presence.

I look over to Anni and Chizuru who are sitting a couple of seats away from me, Anni has her arm wrapped behind Chizuru’s neck, pulling her to her side and letting her rest her head on Anni’s shoulder. Her hands gently, slowly stroking Chizuru’s long, curly hair in calming motions. I can see that Anni seems to be whispering something to her, probably reassuring words to further calm her stressed friend.

Next to them I spot the pink explosion that is Masuren, however, Shizuka isn’t by her, and she seems rather impatient. Either that, or upset.

I hear a low whisper right behind me, one with a lisp. It has to be Hibiki.

“What is here?”

Another voice, Atsuko’s, whispers back, “Uhm… a big room, it’s a school gym hall... Chairs… People…”

Hibiki groans, “Yes, yes I know but tell me something I don’t know!”

“Oh! Uhm, well, there’s a large stage in front of us…”

Hibiki goes quiet for a second. “A stage? Hm… Hehe~ Y’know, Ko-Ko I once heard that if you do a one-handed handstand on a stage while singing in French, a big, sexy genie will pop up and grant you three wishes~!”

_‘I hope to God that Atsuko isn’t-’_

Atsuko gasps in awe, “Woa! Really? But, I don’t know any French songs…”

_‘I have no words…’_

“Aw… that’s a shame… I guess you’ll never get to meet a sexy genie then…”

I can hear Atsuko mumbling “I really wanted to wish for a pet, too…” to herself.

Suddenly, the voice from earlier speaks up, filling the huge room with its laughter:

“Sooo~ Now that everyone’s here and seemingly feel no fear…~ Ohoho! That rhymed! Aren’t I so great! Upupupu…~”

I hear Hibiki whispering to Atsuko once again: “Sounds like a 3 to me... “

Two spotlights point themselves to the center of the stage and, after a couple of seconds, a small figure drops down from the ceiling, landing right in the center of the lights. It’s… a small teddy-bear looking thing. It’s evenly split in the middle with black on one side and white on the other. I take off my glasses and clean them, putting them on again just to make sure I’m seeing right. Unfortunately, I am.

The rest of the students seem to be just as confused as I am, even Ryo can’t hide her look of surprise, and Rosetta sure doesn’t even try to hide hers. She stands up, walks over to Ryo and, with that aggressive tone of hers says “Okay, very funny Tsuruga, you got us. But I’m not scared of some damn teddy-bear.”

Ryo shakes her head, “D’Angelo, this is not my work. I had something completely different in mind.” But Rosetta doesn’t believe her, to no one’s surprise. She rolls her eyes and turns to the stage, approaching the bear in question. She bends over and examines it. “Looks like a child’s toy,” she says as she knocks on the hard metal head of it. And that’s when her scream echoes through the room.

**_“W-WHAT THE HELL?”_** Her face is one that holds fear unlike I’ve ever seen it, and for good reason. Once she had knocked on the skull, the bear had - fast like lightning - grabbed her wrist in a strong grip, its claws just barely scratching against her skin. Its right eye, one of a strange shape and bright red, contrasting the black half of its body, glowed sinisterly.

“Sooo…~” That same voice from earlier had come from this bear, who was now holding the struggling Rosetta in place by her wrist. “You think I’m just like a toy? You think I’m nothing but a piece of scrap that you give your sorry children on Christmas just to get them to stop whining? You think…” I could see its grip on her wrist tighten, the claws now making tiny cuts into her skin. “You think I’m BELOW Miss D’Ego?”

Rosetta didn’t respond, she kept trying to pry her hand out of its grip, but doing so only made the claws go deeper.

“Usually I wouldn’t hurt a spotless student, but let’s face it. None of you are innocent, are you?” And with that, the bear releases its grip on Rosetta who stumbles back, covering her cuts with her other hand. Gilda rushes over to her sister and wraps her arms around her. I can’t see Rosetta’s face, but I can hear her sobbing.

The bear makes a flicking motion with its paw, causing the small blood-drops to fling off its claws. It then turns to the rest of us and bows. “Welcome to Hope’s Peak Academy! I am your headmaster! Mongulous Kumberbatch. Monokuma for short.”

Hibiki, who of course has no idea of what had just happened, lets out a laugh, “Mongulous Kumberbatch?! With a name like that, you’re not even a 3!”

Monokuma crosses his arms over his chest, “Says the one in desperate need of a haircut.” He laughs that disturbingly upbeat, yet evil laughter, “Besides~ That was a joke. Ever heard of it?”

Ryo casts him a skeptical look, “But, why are you a bear, as opposed to a human? Or perhaps, why are you presenting yourself as such, instead of coming out of hiding?”

Monokuma shrugs, “I guess our writer was just too lazy to change that part.”

_‘Writer? What on Earth is the talking about?’_

He looks at Rosetta and Gilda, “Now, could the Italian duo go back to their seat. You’ll get directions to the nurse’s office when I’m done talking.”

Gilda helps Rosetta off the floor, takes off her scarf and wraps it around her wrist as a temporary bandage and leads her back to their seats.

Monokuma clears his throat, “Anyways~! Like I said, I’m Monokuma, your headmaster. Now, if you all look underneath your seats, you will find a mini-tablet. I want you all to take yours and let it scan your fingerprint. So, Ryo, Emo-girl and pinky will have to take off their gloves for now.” He gestured to Ryo, Mitsu and Masuren as he said this. Mitsu was not pleased with the nickname she had been given, but, just like the other two, removed her dark gloves.

We all checked underneath our chairs and, sure enough, there was a tablet underneath each and every one of them. We did as told and once mine was scanned, the screen faded to black and, after a couple of seconds, my name was displayed in big, bold letters.

Shizuka looked up at Monokuma with a confused look, “But, why did we have to scan them?”

“Well you see, Bubbles… I had no way of knowing where each and every one of you would sit down, so the risk that someone would get another student’s e-Handbook - which, by the way, is what you’re all holding right now - could lead to some… Unfortunate reveals, let’s just say.” He let out a chuckle, “Sooo, I simply made it so that upon first start-up, each tablet would scan its new owner’s print and display the information needed about that person. Of course, these have been tested once before, but the factory-reset process would be too complex for you small tadpoles to figure out~!”

Shizuka simply nods her head, although I can clearly see she still doesn’t fully understand. Which, I highly doubt any of us do. The whole concept just seems so… strange. Almost a bit futuristic if I should be honest.

“And,” Ryo starts as she begins putting on the long gloves again, “What are these for?”

Monokuma claps his paws together like how a game-show host would when presenting a new question. “Excellent question! Never thought you would ask that! Caught me a bit off-guard! Not.” He gets off the stage and marches from one side of our view to another.

“Like I mentioned earlier, those things are what I like to call e-Handbooks. They are many things, many useful ones. For example, on the menu you see on the screen right now, you’ll see a handful of options. First up!” Quick as lightning, he snatches my handbook and presses the top option, bringing up a page of text…

“Your student I.D! This page will list everything from your name, height, talent, known family members, known place of birth, etc~! It also includes a tasty looking picture of you! See? Isn’t she just the cutest little…” He turns the tablet and looks at my picture, “Uhm… Mango?”

Seijun raises her shaking hand like how one would when asking to correct their English teacher in class.

Monokuma points dramatically to her, “Yes! Muffin-girl!”

“U-uhm… What do you mean by ‘known’ on the place of birth and family members…?” She asks, and I agree with her, that certainly is quite odd…

“Nevermind that part,” Mitsu stands up, “How did you even get this information to begin with?”

Monokuma waves his paw dismissively at the two, “The answer to both of those questions is the Internet. It tells you a lot, but not always everything. Anyway, moving on!” He taps on another option, “This is the school map, I bet bunny-girl could’ve made use of that a couple of minutes ago! Either way, I don’t need to go into much detail on this, it just shows you a map of your new home.”

“New home?” I can’t help but react, that is just a very strange way of describing a school. It’s not like we’re going to live here.

“Wait for your turn, Nayoko. I’m not done talking.”

He points at the screen again, “You have all been assigned your own dorms, these have been decorated to make you feel more at home~ The doors all have locks on them, however each lock is made completely different from the others. So just cause you can break into one dorm - which you can’t do anyways - the same method wouldn’t be of use on another lock.”

Mitsu raises her voice again, “And why would we even want to break into each other’s dorms?”

Monokuma pauses. Despite the already existing, terrifyingly happy smile, his face manages to turn even darker with evil. “Oh don’t you worry about that, yet~ I’ll get to that veeery soon~”

I feel a cold chill rush through my spine.

“Neeext up,” he exits out of the map and presses the third option, “The school regulations! You didn’t think I’d let you all run around doing whatever you want, did ya? People won’t learn if you never tell them when they’re being reckless~” He skips over to me and hands me my tablet, “I’ll let you all look at these yourselves~” He laughs and waits eagerly.

I look down and read through our new rules to live by:

** “Rule 1: As the school is now your new world of living, attempting to cross the gate and wall will not be tolerated. **

** Rule 2: Students may not break locked doors. Lock-picking is allowed, but if the doors themselves take damage, there will be consequences. **

** Rule 3: Nighttime takes place from 10PM to 8AM, and to prevent night-snackers, the cafeteria will be locked during those hours. As will the gym. If a student finds themselves stuck in either area during lockdown, they have only themselves to blame. **

** Rule 4: Additionally, students may not use any area but the dorms to sleep in. If a student is found sleeping anywhere but the dorms, there’ll be consequences. **

** Rule 5: Apart from cases mentioned in Rule 2, students may explore the school to their heart’s content. **

** Rule 6: Violence against Headmaster Monokuma is NOT tolerated and will have severe consequences- **

** Rule 7: If a student decides to, or is forced to, become a Blackened, they will be allowed to graduate, unless they are exposed during the Class Trial. **

** Rule 8: Additional rules may be added if necessary.” **

Anni, leaning back in her chair, waves her tablet at Monokuma, “What’s the second last one about? How do you become a Blackened?”

Monokuma looks slightly confused, “Wow, I didn’t think we’d jump to that one straight away… I thought you’d ask about graduation. Hm… I’ll answer your question in just a moment~”

But before he could do so, Hibiki stands up on her chair and speaks loudly: “Hey so I have no idea what the fuck is going on but I think mine is broken.”

Monokuma shakes his head, “That is impossible, these are made especially to be indestructible. There’s no way yours is broken.”

“It is though, wanna know why? Cause the screen won’t turn on.”

Mitsu sighs and tugs on Hibiki’s dress, “The screen is on. You just can’t see it.”

Hibiki grins, “That’s my point, how in Uranus am I supposed to know, as well as follow, these rules if I don’t know what they are?”

Monokuma pauses. She has a po-

“Beanie-ball,” he points at Atsuko, “Read them out to her.”

_‘Nevermind, we’re all idiots.’_

“Anyways, like I was going to say. Let me explain graduation~ This school is now your new home where you will spend the rest of your days in with the same 15 other people around you each and every day. However, if one wishes to leave, there is one way.”

He turns and starts walking back and forth on the stage, “In this school, contrary to popular belief, we don’t put students through torture and misery in forms of math classes and sudden exams to measure their chance of success. No, no. Here at Hope’s Peak Academy, we rely on much more brutal tests for those who wish to graduate, and along with that, leave the school. Namely… ” His face darkens, “Murder~”

The room goes silent, everyone has stopped, even Hibiki seems caught off-guard and doesn’t have anything to say.

“Upupupu~ Looks like that got you all listening properly, hm~? Now, let me answer Freckles question; If one wishes to leave, they have to kill a classmate and, by doing so, become a Blackened. However, it doesn’t end there. No, no, along with having to end the life of one of your new friends, or a complete stranger if you hate people, you have to lie. Lie and lie and lie and lie until the rest of your classmates pin the crime on someone else during the class trial. Want to guess what happens~?”

Seijun looks at him with terror and a pleading look in her eyes, “T-that’s the end of it, r-right...? They g-get to leave after t-that… right…?”

Monokuma laughs, “Almost~ It’s not the end of it. No, if the Blackened manages to deceive their classmates into voting someone else, they get to witness them all receive the punishment the Blackened would’ve gotten if exposed before they get to leave the school. And what’s that punishment?”

Monokuma looks out at our fearful faces before continuing: “Death.” He laughs, a laughter so maniacal, so merciless, so unforgiving. Not only did we have to murder, lie and frame another for our own crime, but we had to watch them die, see their lives be taken away from them for what we did.

This cannot be real, I don’t believe it, this has to be some sick joke, a nightmarish fever-dream…

But it isn’t, is it? This is our new reality.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you want to learn more about the characters, you can read about them on my discord server ( https://discord.gg/hjp6Fm4wqQ )


	2. Chapter 1: Dancing on Knives [Daily Life] [Day 1]

We all sat in silence, in shock, disbelief. This was something that felt like it came straight out of a book, a fictional story. But it wasn’t. This was real, and we had no choice but to live by our new rules, as we were all scared of what might happen if we chose to break them.

I stared at the rules we’d been given, and then up to our dictator. I wished, oh how I wished that he’d tell us he was joking, that it was nothing but a prank on a TV-show. But he didn’t. He just kept laughing, laughing at our horror, laughing at our fear and silence.

Laughing at our fates.

I wanted Mitsu, I wanted Etsucho, I wanted someone to stop him. Shut him down, break him, anything. I just wanted someone to save us from this nightmare.

But no one did. Mitsu held the sobbing Seijun close to her side. Etsucho was hiding her face in her hands, shaking her head and mumbling to herself. Rosetta was still shaking from the shock she got when standing against Monokuma, and Gilda was by her side trying to calm her down. But even Gilda was scared.

We all were.

The first one to speak was Hibiki, but even her voice was unsteady. “I-is everyone still here…? Is the show over…? Can we go home now?”

No one said a word, we couldn’t bring ourselves to speak. No matter what we would’ve said, it couldn’t change the truth. Everyone is still here, for now. The show isn’t over. We can never go home.

Monokuma clapped his paws together, “Well, meeting over! It’s getting close to lunch-time! You can all check your e-Handbooks to find the cafeteria.” He then gestured to Rosetta and Gilda, “Rosey and her sister can follow me, as of now, the nurse’s office is not open for use to everyone. Come now!” He jumped down from the stage and, as he walked past the two, he pulled a bit on Gilda’s skirt, signaling for her to get up.

After the three had left, Ryo stood up, “I… I think we should get something to eat at least…”

None of us wanted to eat, none of us had the motivation to eat. But we knew she was right, starving ourselves wouldn’t make our situation any better. So, we all, one by one, forced ourselves up from our seats and out into the corridor. I put my e-Handbook in my bag and followed after Ryo, who was now leading us to the cafeteria.

As we got there, I somehow felt… safer. The cafeteria felt like the one at my old school, it had that same normal feel to it. This is a cafeteria a food-fight could randomly take place in, where everyone is smiling and laughing and just generally having fun. It’s a cafeteria that could have waffle breakfast days every now and then. But despite the fact that it’s what it felt like, it wasn’t a normal cafeteria. It was part of this… this absolute hell we had been trapped in.

No one dared speak, and so we all simply just... stared off into space. However, only one of us chose to speak up, and it was far from who I had expected it to be.

“I… understand the situation we’re… in, and our reactions are… human…” Sabitsuki tried her best to make her low, monotone voice be heard. “Even if… the situation itself is… unimaginable to most, and even impossible… for some… We have in fact found ourselves… in it, and because of its… obscurity we should, or rather… we must try our best to… keep our minds in our own possession…”

_‘Keep our minds in our own possession…’_

Despite my first impression of Sabitsuki, that being someone who would rather die than talk, after hearing the way she’s able to express herself in a way that we all can understand yet keep our calm… I can now fully understand why she is the Ultimate Psychologist.

I see Tomoko reach her hand out and rest it on Sabitsuki’s shoulder, who surprisingly didn’t get too startled over the sudden touch. Instead, she forced a small smile on her stiff lips. Tomoko responded with a gentle smile of her own, and with that I could almost feel a gentle breeze of safety. One that you feel when in the arms of your mother when you were young. One that says “You’re safe here, I’ll be here for you…”

I look around at everyone around me, and I can see that they also feel that breeze. Their faces more relaxed, some even smiling. Seijun has stopped crying and is instead resting her head on Mitsu’s lap, probably exhausted from today’s events. Etsucho is leaned back in her seat, arms crossed over her chest and with the faintest of smiles on her lips.

For this brief moment, things felt alright, this brief moment of joy was like heaven.

I took this as an opportunity to get to know my new classmates a bit more, however I didn’t want to go too out of my way to talk to a specific person, so I’d have to choose someone sitting near me. I take a look around me once again to find my options, I seem to have ended up in an interesting group… Hibiki and Atsuko were chatting away to my left, while Masuren was sitting to my right, her gloved hands drumming on the table as she seemed to be trying to catch Shizuka’s attention - who was sitting at a different table.

In front of me was…

_‘The love of my…- wait what am I saying?’_

**Ayase.**

I hadn’t noticed her eyes staring right into mine, seemingly glowing bright, until she had already captured me. She chuckled lightly, “Apologies, I didn’t think you were so easily affected…~ However, judging by the sweet pink tint on your cheeks, it seems as though you’re quite okay with that.” Her smile, that devilish smile…

“H-huh? What are you… oh…” I lifted my hand to my cheeks and, sure enough, they were burning.

She just shook her head, keeping her smug smirk resting on her lips. “You are a rather strange girl, Sumadera. However…” She leaned forward over the table, her face now much closer to mine, letting the rest of her sentence dance out in a whisper; “I like that quite a lot about you...~”

_‘Oh no.’_

“I-I, uhm… I see… Uhm…” I stumbled to find a question to ask to change the subject, anything would do… “S-so do you like sour or sweet candy…?”

Her face changed from a seductive smile to utter confusion, the drastic change in her expression was almost comical. “... Ah, well… I like sweet candy…” The way she talked now was way different from her usual flirty tone. She sounded almost unsure.

Her eyes slowly left mine, seemingly looking at something - or someone - behind me. After a while, she smiled, “Ah, Suzuta hello. May I help you?”

I turned my head and found that Etsucho had moved from her seat and come over to our table. She shook her head at Ayase, “Not you, no. But thank you for the offer,” she looked down at me with her moss-green eyes. “May I speak to you in private for a moment?”

The request took me off-guard. _‘Had I done something wrong…?’_

I nodded and stood up, following Etsucho through a grey door in the back of the cafeteria. As we entered, I was overwhelmed with the smell of fresh fruit and vegetables.

The kitchen.

Suddenly, Etsucho stopped and turned around, “It’s about Ryo.”

_‘Oh… So Etsucho noticed it too…? I’m glad I’m not alone in-’_

“Those roses of hers have to be plastic, or even just fabric, right? There’s no way a flower like that would be that lively and whole after being in a glove for God knows how long. As well as the fact that the thorns, even just the stumps of them, would not be that forgiving to her skin when being pressed against it so tightly.”

List of things I did not expect: that.

“P-pardon?”

She gave me a confused look, “You didn’t think it was weird that those gloves are still white as snow? That those roses seem so… stiff yet almost fluffy? Don’t tell me you didn’t notice that.”

“I… I didn’t think that far, no… I just thought it was weird that she had roses in her gloves to begin with.”

She shook her head and massaged the bridge of her nose with her fingers, “I thought you of all people would have seen it too, but seems not…”

“Me? How so?”

“You’re a game developer, right? You make games, worlds with tiny details and easter eggs, right? Someone who’s able to make such wondrous details should be able to spot them outside of screens, right?”

“O-oh… Right… I suppose so?” She sure has quite the expectations of me. “But, how come you noticed it? And in such detail? Are you a florist?”

Etsucho smiled slightly and shook her head again, making the flower in her hair dance from the motion, “Not a florist specifically, no. But I was given the title of Ultimate Gardener in my letter.”

“Gardener? So you lift a lot of heavy bags with dirt and stuff?”

She raised one of her sharp eyebrows, “I do, yes. But why are you asking me that all of a sudden?”

I gestured to her strong figure, “I mean, you’re extremely… buff... “

_‘Not that I’m complaining…’_

She laughed a little, it sounded a bit stiff, like Ryo’s roses. “Ah that, well. Partially that. It’s mostly thanks to my cousin. He used to visit me a lot in my early garden days. However, not always to help me with the plants, but instead he’d challenge me to practice fights in front of my purple grape vines. He said the color made him feel stronger. But I think he just wanted an excuse to train me.”

_‘And he did one hell of a job doing so…’_

“Wait, train you? What for?” Sure, I can imagine you’d need at least some level of strength to carry bags of dirt and dig around in dirt. Actually on second thought it doesn’t make all that much sense.

“Ah… Well, I might have let it slip that I had a small interest for that stuff, I suppose…” She raised her hand to the back of her neck and moved her gaze away from mine for a moment. Her response was sincere, but it sounded… incomplete.

I wanted to ask her more about it, but my opportunity to do so was stolen by the kitchen door flying open. Before I could properly react, I was nearly tackled to the floor by a pink flash.

To my disappointment, said pink flash was not a new superhero, but was instead Masuren in all her giggling glory.

“Guys, guys, guys~! I have some absolutely faaantastic news~!” She clapped her gloved hands together and smiled at us excitedly, “Something just got totes canon!”

Both me and Etsucho stare at her in utter confusion.

“Excuse my language but what the flying fuck does ‘totes canon’ mean?” Etsucho had managed to take the words right out of my mouth.

“I’m talking about ships, silly!”

_‘Ohhh right. Ships. Thanks Masuren. I understand everything now.’_

After she realized we still had absolutely no idea what she was talking about, she continued: “Shizuka is going to ask Tomoko out for a walk round the school!”

“And why is that fantastic news…?” Etsucho raised one of her eyebrows.

“Ah, well… Uh-hum... “ Masuren started to fidget with her hands, as if she was trying to remember something. “Well! If they do that, they might find something!”

What a fantastic conclusion.

Masuren doesn’t give us any time to react before she grabs both mine and Etsucho’s wrists and pulls us out of the kitchen. I get that she’s a matchmaker and that potential relationships excite her but this is a bit… obsessive.

As she drags us through the cafeteria, I manage to spot Rosetta and Gilda. Rosetta’s wrist is covered by her pastel blue jacket, but I can see a small piece of white bandage poke out from under the sleeve. Rosetta herself looks… different. She doesn’t look as confident as before, but it’s obvious that she’s trying to look fine.

“Wait, why exactly are you dragging us along?” Etsucho asks Masuren, slightly annoyed. The question seems to have hit where it should, as Masuren suddenly stops in her tracks. She lets go of our wrists and turns to us.

“I… I don’t know. Are you guys not excited over it?”

We both shook our heads, I mean it’s nice that we might get info but I don’t see why we should be invading personal life like that.

“Oh…” Masuren starts fiddling with her gloves, “I suppose that’s understandable. I mean, neither of you know how big of a deal this is to my ca- I mean, to… Uhm… I’ll see you guys later!” She quickly turns around and hurries off.

“What on Earth just happened?” Once again, Etsucho took the words right out of my mouth. “I mean, she seems almost… too excited over this. And frankly, too excited over Yamashita in general. You have seen the way she looks at her, right?”

And I have. It’s really strange how they seem so tight together when they are with one another, but every time they’re parted, Masuren seems almost desperate to fix that. She seems nice and all, but that makes her seem a little strange.

With that, the two of us make our way back to the cafeteria, she gives me a nod before going back to her table as I return to mine. However with my usual luck, as soon as I sit down, everyone else stands up. Atsuko reaches over to me and taps on my shoulder.

“Uhm, you guys weren’t here when it happened but Ryo proposed that we should explore the rest of the school a little before nighttime comes around… and uhm, Ayase said that we should form groups so that we can keep track on one another as well as… what was it she said again?”

Hibiki groans and puts on the stupidest yet most brilliant impression of the hypnotist in question: “Oh~ So that we can quicker inform others of our beeeaaautiful findings here in this exoootic paaaradise~”

_‘So terrible. I love it.’_

“Right! So, I was wondering if you’d like to join me and Hibiki?” Atsuko smiled at me.

“Oh! Sure! But uhm, Hibiki… Not to be insensitive but-”

“I may not be able to see them but I know for a fact that I have hands and ears, Nay. Trust me, they may be small, but they sure as hell are far from useless~” Hibiki grinned as she stretched out her arms in front of her.

“Right… Anyway, where should we go?” I turned back to Atsuko and she reached her hand into her back pocket and pulled out the e-Handbook, looking over the map.

“Shizuka and Tomoko already took the gym and dressing area I think…” She let her finger trace the paths laid out on the screen as she spoke. “Ayase, Mitsu and Seijun talked about checking most of the classrooms… Anni said she’d bring Chizuru to check what was on the second floor,” she pointed at the blueprint-outline of a staircase in the lower left part of the map.

“Prima Ballerina and her sister said they’d go back to the nurses office at first, but Ryo-mama said that they should check the outside of the school with her. And Pettsucho managed to convince Coffee-lady to join her to check the dorms, if I heard right.” Hibiki cracks her tiny knuckles and grins once again, “Probably to check out the beds~”

I chose to ignore Hibiki’s comment and looked at the map with Atsuko, checking any areas that the three of us could take over in our search. While scanning the map, I found one area that neither Atsuko or Hibiki had mentioned. “How about here?”

Atsuko followed my gaze until she found it too, “The library? I suppose that could be a good spot, especially for information.”

“Well, either that or fiction. It’s not a guarantee that there will be any historical books or even articles,” I say and shrug.

“Well, miss pessimist, it’s a school library. I doubt that there won’t be historical books or articles.” Hibiki reached her hand out and fumbled around until she found my shoulder and gave me a small, teasing push.

Atsuko looked from me to Hibiki over and over again, her eyes filled with confusion as she muttered to herself “Who do I believe…”

“Oh, right… Uhm, s-shall we go then?” I brushed Hibiki’s hands away from my arm before she got to my chest.

Atsuko nodded and took Hibiki’s hand, probably to help lead her to the library. The fact that the two of them seem to get along that well despite being so completely different was amazing to me.

Despite having a map of the school, finding our way to the library in question proved to be quite difficult since the map itself lacked any sort of “You are Here” icon. However, after some time we found - not the library - but Shizuka and Tomoko. Strange, according to the map, the area they were supposed to investigate is on the other side of the building. But even stranger than that, behind one of the classroom doors I could see something pink in the open gap.

Shizuka and Tomoko were too caught up in their conversation to notice us and, not wanting to interrupt, we continued on our quest for knowledge.

Eventually, we found the doors to the library. Big and dark, and the wood itself felt very soft against my hands as I pulled them open. And with doing so, saw it.

Dust absolutely everywhere. It was as though by opening these doors I had led loose a flood of dust, ready to assault our throats and noses. Does no one here clean this place?

After a bit of coughing, the three of us made our way into the room, and Hibiki let out a hoarse laugh; “This dust is as heavy as sin, holy shit.”

“It doesn’t make that much sense for a library at a knowledge and talent-filled school like this to be in this state… I mean, there’s gotta be some limit to how much one can know about a subject just from prior experience…” I scan the backs of the wall of books that fill each shelf, each and every one of them covered in dust. Although, not all of them. One book in particular stands out, but not due to flashy colors, quite the opposite.

I try to pull it out, however it’s stuck tightly in the middle of the row. It’s like attempting to pull a brick out of a wall. I can barely even get a proper grasp of the back of it. Despite giving my hands a serious workout every time I’m making a game, it seems like it’s far from enough.

“Maybe we should ask someone stronger…” Atsuko says, watching me try to win the war of strength. She’s right, as silly and straight up embarrassing as it’ll be, there’s no way to get this book without strength.

“Petty-Betty might be able to help!” Hibiki snickered, “That is, if we’re able to pull her big, strong body off of-”

“Good idea, please never bring it up again,” I shake my head, “Atsuko, would you be okay with fetching her? I… I really don’t want to have to say that I can’t get a book out of a shelf.”

Atsuko smiles and nods before sprinting out through the doors to find Etsucho, leaving me with Hibiki. I decide to be really quiet as I move from shelf to shelf, trying to find anything of interest. This proved to be a good tactic since Hibiki is now unable to locate me and my… ahem… I try to hold in a small chuckle as she walks around the room with her arms stretched out in front of her, mumbling to herself. All I manage to catch is an annoyed “Goddamn peek-a-boob.”

After a while, Atsuko returns with Etsucho who simply casts me a look that tells me she’s rather unimpressed, but she doesn’t say anything. Instead, she quietly walks up to the bookshelf and grabs the book, pulling it out like picking a feather out of a pillow.

“Thank you…” I mumble, way too embarrassed to make eye-contact with my saviour of knowledge.

“No problem,” Etsucho turns the book to read its title, “Hm, **_‘Ultimates Special Cases’_**? What kind of special…” She opens the book and the rest of us, Hibiki strangely included, gather around her as she reads the first page. Or, at least tries to. Etsucho is the last person I’d ever expect to stutter, and yet…

“I-... In modern d… days of Hope’s Peak… M-many strange and… un… unexpected talents…”

I can’t believe my ears nor eyes. Etsucho - who is by far the most intimidating here in terms of build - is currently standing right next to me, cheeks pink and stuttering just like Chizuru.

Hibiki can’t believe it either, as she breaks into laughter, “Oh my god, please tell me Baby-Horror is just really good at voice impressions, this can’t be Pettsucho, this CAN’T be for real!” Suddenly she interrupts her laughter with an “OW!” as Etsucho has bonked her on the head, still rosy-cheeked from embarrassment. “Zip it.”

Atsuko bites her lip and taps Etsucho on the shoulder, “Should I take over…?” To which Etsucho smiles and nods, handing the book over to Atsuko who continues:

_**“In modern days of Hope’s Peak, many strange and unexpected talents have been both accepted and turned down. Some have been everyday things such as hobbies or occupations. Others been purely skill-based or absolute devotion. However, a lot of dark and sometimes downright evil talents have been spotted, for better or for worse. Some of these include:** _

_**-Ultimate Murderous Fiend** _

_**-Ultimate Assassin** _

_**-Ultimate Graverobber** _

_**-Ultimate Hitman…”** _

The list continued to list titles I’d never thought anyone would be rewarded for having.

_**“While some of these cases have been neutral within the school, some have been suspended or even - in one case - taken into arrest. [See page 164]”** _

As if an unspoken agreement, Atsuko quickly searches through the pages for this ‘One case’ and, upon finding it, disappointment spreads through us all.

“It’s… ripped out…” I say as I trace the small bush of the paper that was once holder of secret but was now just the remains of a poor knowledge theft. “Then again, I’m not exactly surprised.”

“Same here, with that bear being… whatever he is, I highly doubt he’d want us to have knowledge to something that vital…” Etsucho says as she tries to ignore Hibiki’s attempts at climbing up on her back.

“SOME of us lack the privilege of sight, and so I kindly ask you to explain what the hell is going on?” Hibiki suddenly starts laughing before adding; “Ko-Ko, why don’t you… **Tellus**?”

Etsucho sighs heavily, “Did you not listen to what she was reading?”

“Nope!”

_‘There’s no hope for you, Hibiki…’_

Suddenly, a loud bell rings throughout the library, possibly the whole school, and following it is his voice.

**“Well~ Today has been quite eventful, hasn’t it? But unfortunately it’s time for all you little ducklings to tuck yourselves in for nighttime~! You have twenty minutes before lockdown so move those feathered little tails of yours quickly!”**

“Mind if I take this with me?” Etsucho gestured to the book Atsuko was still holding, “I can read through it during the night to see if there’s anything else of interest.”

“But, aren’t you going to sleep?” Atsuko gave Etsucho both a worried look and the book. Etsucho smiled, “If I can. If not, I’ll try to be useful in another way.”

Out of the four of us, Etsucho was probably the best one for searching through it. Atsuko might forget why she’s reading it, I can’t without falling asleep and Hibiki, well…

We soon left the library, the sudden change from breathing dust to air almost shocked me. It was, quite literally, a breath of fresh air.

_‘Nayoko this is why you never talk to people.’_

We used Atsuko’s e-Handbook to lead us to the dorm area, which didn’t take all that long thankfully. However, on our way there, I noticed some strange things.

Namely, **her**.

“Wait,” I stopped in place, causing Etsucho to nearly walk into me. “Do you guys see that?” I kept my voice low, not wanting her to know I’d spotted her.

Etsucho immediately caught on to what was happening and, before Atsuko could ask, leaned over to her and whispered: “Sasaki.”

Hibiki on the other hand didn’t quite get it.

“Oooh? Ma-Sa? She’s here?” Hibiki grinned and, before I could stop her, cupped her hands around her mouth and yelled, “Hey Ma-Sa! Ya still hunting for that fresh fish?”

_‘For God sake, Hibiki…’_

Masuren, who’d been hiding behind a classroom door - seemingly taking notes - turned pale and turned her head towards us in the same way a scared rabbit would. I saw her hand make a very sharp motion to the side, before running past us in a panic.

“Sounds like it~!” Hibiki snickered to herself.

I sighed, “Hibiki why did you have to yell out like that? You really startled her!”

“I thought ya wanted to talk to her!” Hibiki crossed her arms over her chest and stuck her tongue out at the air, probably thinking that’s where I was standing.

“W… well, yes, but-”

“No buts. You either want that cat, or you don’t.”

Atsuko blinked several times in confusion, “Cat? Where?”

“I think she meant-” Etsucho began.

“You guys haven’t heard the way she hisses? Man, it’s fucking terrifying. But so goddamn cool,” Hibiki cracked her small knuckles and made an attempted hiss of her own. “I’ve heard her yell at Bubbles once, and it was like hearing a literal cat-fight!”

Suddenly, the bell rang once again, followed by Monokuma’s reminder that we only had a few minutes left before lockdown. Not wanting to risk anything, we all hurried down the hall and, not long after, found the dorms. A long hallway, the walls were lined with doors, 8 on each side. I gave the others a parting nod before entering the door with my own name - ‘Nayoko Sumadera’ - engraved into the wood.

Upon entering, I was surprised by how normal the room looked. A plain white bed, a desk with some writing paper and some pencils, a small shelf lined with programming and game design books and a set of drawers. In the far back of the room, was another door. I walked up to it and peeked inside, expecting to find a dead body.

But no, it was just an empty bathroom. No blood or corpses, thankfully.

I check the drawers, inside them are clothes. My clothes.

Identical down to every stitch.

“A bit unsettling but, at least I’ll have a spare set now…”

Underneath them I find a pair of pajamas, light green with small cubes along the sleeves. I decide to try them on and, despite usually being a bit… bigger than others my age, they surprisingly fit me.

I set my clothes aside and lay down on the bed, staring up at the ceiling.

“What have we gotten ourselves into…?”


	3. Chapter 1: Dancing on Knives [Daily Life] [Day 2]

The warm sand acts as a comfortable pillow below me, I stretch my arms out above me and smile. Summer vacation is one of the most relaxing things ever invented. The sound of the waves caressing the beach and the warm sun keeping me from freezing. Everything is perfect. This is a paradise…

Suddenly, a loud bell tears me from my sleep, and a voice I wish to never hear again followed it:

**“Rise and shine all you little porklets! It’s morning, and you all have yet another wonderfully horrific day ahead of you!”**

I groan and kick my legs over the edge of the bed, forcing myself to sit up. Of course, what I had wished to be real had been a dream, and the opposite is true for my new reality.

I know some say that life is a nightmare, and until now, I just shook my head at it. I never realized how horrible life really could be, since I spent most of my days in my room making games, I hadn’t encountered the horrors of the universe. However, while the isolation and limited social life we now had was a huge change for some of us, as long as none of us… breaks the peace, we should be fine, right?

We’re all strong enough, right? I mean, committing a crime such as murder is something that is out of our reaches of ability… But, Mitsu does seem like she’d be willing to if tested and Etsucho is definitely physically strong enough to… And Ayase…

I slap myself in the face. No, if I keep thinking of it I’ll start doubting them.

I can trust them, right?

I sigh, get into the shower and then change my clothes. Not so much change them as putting on an identical set of them that Monokuma had presumably provided. How did he do that anyway?

Once I’m finished, I head for the door, reach my hand out to grab the door handle and…

There’s a scream.

A loud slam in the wall.

A groan.

Sounds of struggling, hissing, growling and crying.

“I-it can’t be… please no…” I feel my hands shaking, grasping the metal handle in a hard grip, terrified of seeing the scene.

I have to.

I push the door open and step out, scanning the hallway and then, I see it…

Seijun is sat against the wall, crying loudly, her arms covering her chest. Mitsu is next to her, holding her in a protective manner.

Etsucho has Hibiki pressed against the wall opposite of them, holding her in a strong grip.

“I’m trying to tell you, I didn’t mean to-” Hibiki kicks her legs in the air, trying to find the ground.

“It doesn’t matter what you meant to, do not do it again,” Etsucho hisses at her, keeping her grip firm.

Rosetta storms out of her room, “What in the actual Hell is going on here?”

_‘Trust me, I’m as lost as you are…’_

“Look, I’m blind and I have no idea when someone is in front of me unless I feel my way there, y’know? I can’t really turn that on or off as I want!” Hibiki shakes her head as she speaks.

“Don’t touch her like that again.”

“I don’t even know why you’re mad at me! I walked into her back and-”

“You fucking groped her chest,” Etsucho almost spits out her words.

Oh, oh no…

“Wait, I did? That was her chest?” Hibiki suddenly changes from her cocky tone to a bit more panicked, but genuine tone. “Look, I’m sorry. I really am. I know that doesn’t sound believable considering who I am but I promise you, I didn’t know and I didn’t intend to do that. I just thought it was her back.”

Etsucho’s grip loosens very slightly.

Hibiki continues; “Like I said, I am blind so I can’t really tell which way someone is facing or what’s in front of me so I do have to feel my way around sometimes. I would look a bit stupid if I was constantly screaming out to see if anyone responds…”

Seijun keeps her gaze on Hibiki, still sobbing a little, but a bit more calm than before.

Etsucho lets go of Hibiki, letting her stand straight on the floor. “An honest mistake, then…? We may not have known you for long but-”

“Yeah I know, I know. I’m pretty perverted but really didn’t mean it this time,” Hibiki turns around and reaches her hand out, “Look muffin, I’m sorry.”

Silence.

Seijun suddenly starts giggling, “That’s Nayoko but I accept your apology.”

Yep, Hibiki had, in the seriousness of the moment, turned to me instead of Seijun. Hibiki lowers her hand in silence before bursting out into laughter herself.

Seeing Seijun happy again seems to have made Mitsu a bit less stiff as well, she doesn’t smile but her gaze isn’t as murderous as before. She gives Seijun a pat on the head and stands up, “Well, now that that’s over… I think we should all get something to eat.”

We all agree and head to the cafeteria. As I’m walking, I feel small hands grab my arm and, once I turn my head, I see it’s Hibiki.

“I hope you don’t mind if I tag along like this, I’ve already ran into the walls three times… And Ko-Ko isn’t opening her door.”

“Maybe she already went to eat? She seems like someone who would get up early.”

Hibiki sighs, “Yeah maybe… Could you slow down a little? The wheels on these are a lil broken.”

“O-oh sure!” I take smaller steps, letting Hibiki catch up so she’s not bent over trying to keep up. Hibiki is more human than I thought at first. Yeah, she’s still a perverted gremlin but after the scene that just unfolded she seems to have some sense of boundaries. Tomoko didn’t seem to exactly mind her hands-on behaviour yesterday. Seijun however did and she seems to respect that…

“So uh, Hibiki. You’re an astronomer, yeah?”

“Hah, yeah~ I’m gonna guess you’re wondering how I study stars when I can’t even see the fuckers?” She chuckles. “I wasn’t always blind y’know. I actually had crazy good vision.”

“Then, what happened…?”

“That, uh... “ she lowers her voice in what sounds like shame, “That is a story for another day…”

“O-oh, right. Sorry I just-”

Right as we enter the cafeteria there’s a loud, excited squeal and I see a flash of pink rushing towards me.

“Oh my gosh!!! Nayoko I had no idea you were such a noble woman! Guiding little Hibiki here! Oooooh is a romance?” Masuren seems way more energetic and happy than yesterday, I don’t know if that’s good or bad.

“Zip it, Squeezy” Hibiki sticks her tongue out at Masuren and turns to me. “Do you see Ko-Ko?”

I scan the room, ignoring Masuren’s many questions about my perfect date night. “Yea, she’s straight ahead.”

Hibiki smiles and nods. Skating past Masuren and getting caught by Atsuko before she could crash into the table.

“One or two candles… How many do you think would be too much?” Masuren is already making notes in her notebook and looks up at me excitedly.

“Masuren, I-”

“Please, just call me Masu~!”

I sigh, “Right. Masu, I’m not really here to date anyone. Hell I don’t even know if I want to date at all.”

The light in Masuren’s eyes dim. She lowers her notebook, “O-oh… Right…”

God damnit Nayoko now you made her sad… Think of something…

I put my hand on her shoulder and give her a small smile, “But, uh, maybe I just need a push or something. Or maybe I just don’t know enough just yet. Tell you what, if I find myself crushing on someone, you’ll be the first to know. How’s that sound?”

A smile spreads across her lips, the excited light back in her eyes, “You mean it?”

I nod and, before I can vocally confirm, she throws herself at me in a tight hug.

Maybe Masuren doesn’t mean to be so pushy after all? Perhaps it’s just how she shows she cares? Though, she might be the one who needs a push.

Suddenly she pulls away and claps her hands together, “Oh right! I almost forgot!” She hurries into the kitchen and, after a short while, comes back out with a huge plate of muffins and a big smile on her face. “Tomoko, Atsuko and I made these! We thought maybe this could cheer everyone up~!”

Some are skeptical but Shizuka happily grabs one, lowers her mask and takes a bite. “Mmm~ Great as always!”

Masuren walks around the room and lets everyone grab a muffin.

I take a bite out of mine and, Shizuka wasn’t lying, it tastes great!

Anni, taking a pause from her muffin, laughs a bit, “Sasaki I had no idea you had a second secret Ultimate!”

Masuren blushes slightly and puts down the plate on a table, she hovers her hand over the muffins until she stops and grabs one of the fluffier ones. She sits down and takes a bite, closing her eyes and…

There’s a sound of gagging and struggle followed by a loud thud.

Shizuka’s body lays still on the ground.


	4. Chapter 1: Dancing on Knives [Deadly Life]

Sometimes you think you know how an experience will feel and how you will react to it. You think up a plan to follow and think that you can go through with it. But when the moment comes, it’s all for nothing. You can’t prepare yourself for death. You can’t make a plan to handle it.

You just can’t.

Everyone stops in their tracks and stares at Shizuka’s body, everyone except Hibiki who, despite the sudden silence, seems to have gathered what happened.

She opens her mouth and speaks the words none of us want to be true;

“Did… did someone die…?”

None of us want to be the one to confirm it, none of us want it to be true.

To my surprise, Chizuru is the only one to step forward. She leans down, putting her fingers to Shizuka’s neck. Chizuru bites her lip so hard it looks like it’s going to bleed. “S-she has no pulse…”

Anni comes up to Chizuru and puts her hand on her shoulder, “It must have been an accident, yeah? I mean, none of us-”

“Had a moootive~?”

Monokuma drops down from above, laughing and grinning as always.

Mitsu clenches her fists and steps forward, “You. You did this, didn’t you? You psychopathic, sadistic piece of-”

“Nope~! Like I said the first day, I don’t kill students unless they’ve broken a rule! Little Bubbles here was as clean as one could be~! However…” He chuckles, “The same can’t be said for her killer~!”

Tomoko shakes her head, “There’s no way she was killed by someone, it was just an accident. She practically shoved the entire muffin into her mouth, she probably got it stuck.”

“Are you sure about that? Open up her mouth and see then~!”

Tomoko hesitates before walking over to Shizuka’s body. She leans down and carefully opens up her mouth and gags.

Blood pours out, staining both Shizuka’s and Tomoko’s clothes. Tomoko lowers her head, “I… I still don’t want to believe it to be one of us…”

Monokuma laughs again, “If that is the case then I can help you all pick out a coffin because a mentality like that will guarantee you death~!” He claps his paws together and, all at the same time, beeps fill the room. “Check your e-Handbooks!”

I reach into my bag and pull mine out. Upon unlocking it, I see a new option on the menu.

**_‘Case File’_ **

“Normally I would hand out separate devices with the information you will find in the Case File, but due to budget cuts and lack of creativity and being just plain lazy, I’ve decided to make these as just a part of your e-Handbooks! Save the environment and all that nonsense~!” Monokuma shrugs, “If you check out that new feature you will find details about the victim! Time of death, cause of death, injuries and location~! It should be enough for you all to understand but also not enough to exactly tell who did it, that’s for you to figure out!”

And with that, he bounces back up from where he came from, leaving the rest of us on the ground.

There’s a clank and sounds of sobbing. Masuren’s e-Handbook laid a couple of feet away from her as she crouches by Shizuka’s corpse, her gloves getting soaked up from her tears.

Tomoko crouches down next to her and brings her in for a comforting hug and, to my surprise, Hibiki - being led by Atsuko - puts a hand on Masuren’s shoulder. No inappropriate remarks, no teasing.

“It’s, uh… Yamashita, yeah? Atsuko explained to me what had happened… I’m sorry,” Hibiki’s voice is low, almost sad.

Masuren nods, but once realizing Hibiki’s lack of sight, she sniffles, “Yeah… It’s fine, it’s not your fault… It’s just…” She shakes her head, “It’s fine…”

Atsuko forces a small smile, “Hey, if it makes you feel better, you can take a break from this while we, uh, sort this out?”

Masuren shakes her head again, “No, I… I’ll help.”

“I guess we should start by looking at the Case File to get a better understanding of things. We may have seen it occur but only from the outside.” Ayase’s sudden voice almost makes me jump. I hadn’t realized she’d been standing right behind me this entire time.

We all agree and open the Case File.

**_Victim: Shizuka Yamashita. The Ultimate Scuba Diver._ **

**_Time of death: The death occurred at 9:24am._ **

**_Cause of death: The victim suffered from both asphyxiation and rapid blood loss due to a sliced throat, however the latter is the leading cause._ **

**_Location of body: The victim’s body was found in the cafeteria._ **

**_External injuries: The victim shows no external injuries related to their death. However, the victim has multiple cuts in their throat, leading to loss of blood._ **

“That’s… disgusting…” I whisper to myself. A sliced throat? God…

“Hold on a moment, how would her throat even get sliced like that in the first place? Those muffins had nothing to get cut on. Even the wrapper was soft,” Anni picks up a muffin wrapper, folding it multiple times before tossing it up in the air and catching it. “Besides, she didn’t even eat the wrapper either. What would there be to get cut on?”

“Maybe there was something sharp in the muffin?” Rosetta shrugs, “Besides, Sasaki said that she, Hisakawa and Saito were the ones to make the muffins. It’s obviously one of them.”

Gilda clears her throat, “Not necessarily, someone other than them could’ve sneaked in something into the muffins while they weren’t looking.”

Tomoko shakes her head, “No, we were the only ones up and awake when we made them. Masuren was already in the cafeteria and Monokuma gave Saito and I special permission to enter the cafeteria an hour early to help her make them.”

Mitsu raises an eyebrow, “Uhm, why exactly did he let you three do so? And more importantly, why was Sasaki in the cafeteria before then?”

“I… I fell asleep in the cafeteria by accident…” Masuren lowers her head in shame, “Once I woke up, I was afraid that Monokuma would punish me but, instead he just laughed and told me that today was a special day for one of you. I guess he meant it was someone’s birthday since he threw a recipe for muffins at me and disappeared.”

Everyone shakes their heads in unison.

“I don’t even see why he would care about our birthdays in the first place,” Rosetta says as she readjusts her hair-tie. “Plus that doesn’t answer the question of why Hisakawa and Saito were allowed in on it.” She shoots a suspecting look towards Atsuko.

Atsuko tilts her head, putting her hand under her chin, “Tomoko and I were both woken up by Monokuma an hour before the morning announcement. He didn’t say much but he told us to gather basic baking ingredients from the warehouse and bring them to the cafeteria.”

“I would’ve done so myself but Monokuma wouldn’t let me leave the cafeteria, I suppose that was kind of like a punishment?” Masuren sighs.

Rosetta scoffs, “So the three of you were together the whole time after that I’m guessing?”

Atsuko shakes her head, “I had to leave to check on Hibiki halfway through.”

Hibiki bites her nail and mumbles, “I may or may not have difficulty finding the door to the bathroom so I asked Ko-Ko to make sure I didn’t close it.”

“But, how did you get into her room? Aren’t all the doors locked by default?” Rosetta keeps her gaze on Atsuko, trying to hide a pleased smirk.

“I never close my door, I like keeping it open in case anyone wants to have some fun~”

“Isn’t that a bit dangerous though?” I chime in, not liking being excluded from the conversation.

Hibiki just shrugs.

“So,” Anni speaks up, “No one had time to add anything weird into the batter before the announcement without getting caught, yeah?”

The group nods.

Rosetta shakes her head, “Yeah but that’s only before the announcement. One of them -” She glares at Atsuko and Masuren, “- could have easily done so once the batch was done and we were all waiting in the cafeteria.” She smirks, “I recall both Saito and Sasaki rushing into the kitchen at least a few times before the muffins were served.”

“So Saito and Sasaki are the prime suspects then?” Mitsu sighs, “I highly doubt Sasaki did so, she and Yamashita seemed way too close for her to have any ill intentions. And Saito… Unfortunately I think it’s safe to say that her gullibility - no offence - could easily lead her to believe something she shouldn’t.”

“Sasaki and Yamashita may have been close, yes, but consider this: who chose Yamashita’s muffin?” Rosetta pauses. “Herself. Maybe Sasaki had another target in mind and Yamashita just happened to choose the wrong muffin.”

Masuren starts breaking into tears once again, “Why on earth would I want to kill any of you in the first place?!”

Rosetta scoffs, “Jealousy? Don’t think I haven’t seen the dark looks you’ve given everyone who takes Yamashita from you.”

Gilda gives her sister a sharp look of disapprovement before talking to her in Italian, presumably scolding her. Her sister just shakes her head in a “you know I’m right” manner.

Gilda switches back to English: “Besides, if that was the case, wouldn’t Sasaki make sure that Yamashita chose another muffin? To prevent her from getting hurt?”

“Simple; Sasaki wanted no one but herself to have Yamashita. Wouldn’t matter to her if her little girlfriend died or not, that would only make it so that no one else could have her,” Rosetta grins.

Masuren has had enough, through tears she starts yelling at Rosetta who responds similarly.

Tomoko and Gilda had to tear the two from each other to avoid violence.

“D’Angelo, let her be. Her friend just died right in front of her and all you can think of is that grudge you have against her? Practice what you preach and act your age,” Tomoko’s voice is not as soft as it usually is as she speaks. The words seem to be effective however and Rosetta storms out of the cafeteria.

“As much as I hate to say it,” the sarcasm in Hibiki’s voice is as loud as ever, “We’re better off investigating without her.”

I agree. I don’t say it out loud, but I agree. Just like Tomoko said, Rosetta clearly has a grudge against Masuren and, with that, I don’t think she would be much help.

“It… It… It is better to stay, uhm, n-neutral in these cases… Sasaki… I promise you… Whatever we find… We’ll look at facts over bias… Are you okay with… that…?” Sabitsuki doesn’t look at Masuren as she speaks but she still speaks as clear as she can.

Masuren nods, “Yeah… But like I said, I have no motive nor reason to hurt any of you…”

“Anyways!” Ryo stands tall and holds her usual rose in her hands, “I propose that we divide into groups! Tsukada, Matsuyama and I shall look over the fallen’s body. Sasaki, Saito, Moto and Sumadera will investigate the rooms of those tied closest to this act of sorrow. Okura, D’Angelo, Suzuta and Homura search the kitchen. Lastly, Takara, Hisakawa and Ryuzaki can look over the rest of the muffins. If there are more than one muffin of suffering, that could change a lot.”

“Why do you get to boss us around, Tsuruga?” Mitsu, being her own alpha, steps up to Ryo.

“No one else took the liberty to do so, so I did instead. Simple as that,” Ryo gives Mitsu a smile, a smile of semi-tolerance. Mitsu sighs and, together with her assigned group, heads into the kitchen.

Atsuko hurries over to me with Hibiki skating after her, Masuren slowly makes her way to us as well, clearly not wanting to leave Shizuka’s side. I give her a small smile before the four of us leave the cafeteria.

The way to the dorms is gone in silence. Which is understandable, we are going to investigate Masuren’s room because of her being one of the three main suspects…

I give Atsuko a nudge, whispering to her to hurry on ahead before us. While I don’t think she fully understands, she nods and, together with Hibiki, rush off ahead.

Masuren doesn’t seem to notice.

“Uhm, Masure- I mean, Masu,” I look over at her, “Do you mind me asking how long you’ve known one another? I mean, I could tell you guys knew each other from before we got here…”

She smiles a bit, it’s small but genuine. “Well… Since we were kids? My mother ran a bakery which I helped out in, and Shi used to come by to look at our cupcakes a lot.” Masuren laughs softly, “She said that she’s never been allowed to eat things that sugary but that the colors made her happy.”

“That’s really sweet actually-”

Masuren starts giggling. “Was that intentional?”

It takes a moment before I realize and I laugh with her.

She sighs, “Well, one day when she came by, my mother was in the backroom so I took one of the cupcakes that she looked at the most. Big fluffy blue frosting with candy stars on it. I gave it to her, told her that she can eat it.” Masuren smiles, “Her eyes lit up and, my goodness, she took a huge chomp out of that cupcake. She said it was fantastic… She told me I was fantastic…” Her smile fades. “I…”

“It’s okay, Masu,” I hug her, “It’s not your fault.”

We stay hugging for a bit before continuing our walk to the dorms. When we arrive, Atsuko and Hibiki are already standing next to Masuren’s door. “Uhm, Masu, do you think you can…” Atsuko points at the closed door and Masuren’s face shows clear confusion.

“Did you close it on accident?” Masuren asks as she walks over to her door, unlocking it and opening it.

“No? It was closed when we got here.”

“I could’ve sworn I left it open…” Masuren shakes her head, steps aside and lets us inside.

The room looks pretty much exactly like what I had imagined, bright pink with hearts everywhere. There’s a small pink bookshelf lined with, what I assume are romance novels. At least ten pink notebooks are laid on the desk. In the corner of the room there’s a small purple-tinted glass vase with a single red glass marble in it. Probably some kind of symbolism.

The moment we step inside, I hear Hibiki groan.

“Fuck I think I caught something in my wheels…” She sits down on the floor and takes off her heelies. She holds both of them up in the air and Atsuko grabs them, taking a look at them.

“There’s something small stuck in the wheel here… Masuren do you have any tweezers?”

Masuren nods and rummages through one of the drawers, pulling out a tweezer and handing it to Atsuko who uses it to pull out the wheel-parasite.

“It… looks like a glass shard? Might be hard plastic…” Atsuko pinches the tip of the shoe and frowns. “Hibiki, I don’t think you should be walking around in these too much… They’re way too thin. If you’d stepped on that shard with the tips of your shoe, it could’ve gone right through.”

“They’re all I got, Ko-Ko.”

Atsuko sighs and bends down a bit, pulling on Hibiki’s arms. Hibiki quickly gets the hint and happily jumps up on Atsuko’s back, her smile fades for a second, “I’m, uh, I’m sorry I can’t be of much use here…”

“It’s okay, Hibiki, don’t worry.” I give her a small pat on the shoulder.

“Can… Can I see that shard for a moment?” Masuren hovers her hand near Atsuko’s, her eyes fixed on the glass. Atsuko hands Masuren the piece and she takes it over to the glass vase, “This… So this is where they went…”

“What do you mean, Masu?” I peer over her shoulder.

“This is one of my marbles. This vase used to be filled with them but now there’s only one left. See? It’s the same color!” She picks up the lone marble and holds the shard next to it. Indeed, they’re both of the same red shade. “But, where…” She crouches down to the floor and gently brushes her hand across the pink carpet.

A sudden realization hits me, “Wait, Masu, you don’t know why they’re missing? Isn’t this your room?”

Masuren nods, “I know for a fact that there were 27 marbles in the vase yesterday. I like to count them from time to time.”

“Wait, you didn’t see a difference when you woke up?” Hibiki tilts her head.

“I wasn’t in my room, remember? I was stuck in the cafeteria.”

“Do you think someone broke into your room and took them?” Atsuko readjusts herself to not drop Hibiki off her back.

“Didn’t Monokuma say that lockpicking was impossible on these doors?”

I turn to Masuren, “Masu, do you mind me asking when and why you left your room to go to the cafeteria?”

Masuren sighs, “I think I left about 6 minutes before nighttime. You can probably tell by looking at me that I’m a night-snacker. I figured I’d have enough time to make a sandwich and hurry back but I didn’t.”

“Ah, alright.” I turn to Atsuko, “Do you think we should check in on the othe-”

**_Ding-Dong_ **

The loud bell ring throughout the school, followed by Monokuma’s ever-so cheery voice;

**_“Sorry for interrupting but you’re all taking a bit too much time. I mean, it’s only the first case! It’s not that difficult. But sure, sure I get it. You guys want to be sentimental. Too bad! Everyone, please gather in the gym for a mandatory surprise!”_ **

“We’re nowhere near done yet! Why is he cutting us off now?” I stomp my foot.

Masuren and Atsuko lower their heads and, the four of us leave Masuren’s room. As we walk to the gym, Rosetta passes us with a smile on her face, holding something in her arms. I don’t get a good look at it as she goes past but it looks like a book.

_‘Did she spend the whole investigation just reading…?’_

We arrive outside the gym doors, all remaining 15 of us.

The doors open.

Where the 16 chairs had been the first day is now a circle of podiums. 16 in total. One of which is painted with red splatters. On the stage there’s a big white throne on which Monokuma is sitting, grinning as always.

“You all made it! Wonderful~ Now, please find your assigned podium, it will be labeled with your name so no fighting! Once you’ve all made yourselves comfortable, we can begin~!”

As we all look for our spots, I hear Ayase whisper; “Why did he take the body? We weren’t done with it…”

Once we’ve all claimed our podiums, Monokuma’s grin darkens. The main lights turn off, a single spotlight shines at the empty, red stained podium.

“Now then~ We’re only missing one person~!”

A figure shoots down from the ceiling, Shizuka’s lifeless body hangs behind her podium.

The trial begins.


	5. Chapter 1: Dancing on Knives [Class Trial]

**_Victim: Shizuka Yamashita. The Ultimate Scuba Diver._ **

**_Time of death: The death occurred at 9:24am._ **

**_Cause of death: The victim suffered from both asphyxiation and rapid blood loss due to a sliced throat, however the latter is the leading cause._ **

**_Location of body: The victim’s body was found in the cafeteria._ **

**_External injuries: The victim shows no external injuries related to their death. However, the victim has multiple cuts in their throat, leading to loss of blood._ **

_‘Shizuka…’_

Monokuma clears his throat, “Well then! Here’s how the class trial will work this time-”

Mitsu immediately interrupts him, “What do you mean by ‘this time’?”

Monokuma chuckles, “Well, if you play nicely you might have a chance to find out~! Aaanyways! Like I was saying; In this class trial, you will all have to rely on the individual clues each and every one of you have gathered to figure out who killed poor Bubbles. And, if you’re clever enough, you might even figure out why!”

Monokuma takes a pause to breathe, “You’ll all have to argue with one another to find lies or secrets and, after a certain point, you’ll all have to vote for whoever you think is guilty! If you guess right, the Blackened alone with be executed. But~!”

He looks over us, “If the majority votes for the wrong person, everyone but the Blackened get to take part in the execution! And if that happens, the Blackened will then be allowed to leave the school!”

“You’re disgusting,” spat out her words at Monokuma who just laughed.

“Not as disgusting as the culprit~!”

A loud sound rings throughout the room.

Rosetta had slammed the book she was carrying onto her podium, “It’s Sasaki.” She pointed straight at Masuren with a knowing grin on her face. “And this is her secret notebook.” She held up the book. Unlike Masuren’s regular one, this one was black instead of pink.

Everyone goes silent.

“D’Angelo,” Etsucho clears her throat, “This is a serious moment, this is not the time to lie.”

Rosetta shakes her head, “I’m not lying. Compare the handwriting in this to Sasaki’s handwriting. It’s the same one.”

“Even so,” Mitsu sighed, “Just because she has another notebook, doesn’t mean that Sasaki killed Yamashita-”

“She wrote out a murder plan in it.” Rosetta grins.

Silence once again.

“Give me that,” Mitsu takes the book away from Rosetta and flips through the pages. “Diary, diary, diary, diary… These are all just diary entries, D’Angelo…”

Rosetta scoffs, “Yes, but there’s a page missing towards the end. Obviously it’s where she wrote her plan and then ripped it out in case someone found it.”

Masuren shakes her head, “It wasn’t! It was a recipe!”

“A recipe?” I need to know… “Masu, what was the recipe for?”

Masuren pauses, “Muffins…”

“Hold on a minute,” Mitsu shakes her head, “Didn’t you say Monokuma gave you the recipe? And… why did you have one written down?”

Rosetta grins.

“M-mine was a special recipe, it was a family recipe! But I couldn’t use it.”

“Why couldn’t you use it?” Mitsu asks.

“Because… Monokuma didn’t let me…” Masuren looks down in shame.

Rosetta laughs, “Yeah right-”

“She’s not lyiiing~!” Monokuma chuckles, “I have at least some sense of respect for things like that because some of the things needed for the recipe were things we don’t have here! And because it’s a family recipe, substitutes won’t do~!”

Rosetta shakes her head, “Doesn’t matter if it was special or not, the fact that she had it with her to the cafeteria is the scummy part. Why? Because this notebook was in Sasaki’s room.”

“You went into my room?!” Masuren slams her hands on the podium, “Have you respect for privacy?”

Rosetta laughs, “Privacy? The door was wide open!”

“Wait… Rosetta, you closed the door, didn’t you?” I recall Masuren’s confusion upon finding her door closed when we were about to investigate. Another thought hits me, “Did you see Masu’s vase?”

Rosetta nods, “Yeah, it was on the floor. There were marbles and glass shards everywhere. You’re welcome for the free room-service Sasaki cause I cleaned up your damn mess.”

Masuren looks severely confused, “Did you knock it down by accident?”

Rosetta looks offended, “Hell no. It was like that when I came in!”

“But…” I can’t help but wonder, “Why did you go in there to begin with…?”

“Cause of the crash.”

Atsuko pauses, “What crash?”

Rosetta groans, “I heard a loud crash coming from Sasaki’s room. It was hard not to hear because our rooms are right next to each other.”

“When was this?” Atsuko sounds hesitant. Does she know something?

“I don’t know? It was like 20 minutes before the morning announcement?” She shakes her head, “Why does that matter, anyway?”

Atsuko looks down, “I found Hibiki in Masuren’s room when I went to check on her…”

Hibiki seems severely confused by all this, “Wait I was? Was that why it took so long before you took me to the bathroom?”

Rosetta laughs, “Of course Moto smashed the vase, but you didn’t even have the decency to clean it up, huh?” She shakes her head at Atsuko.

“It was dark! I couldn’t see the shards! Honestly, I think it’s a miracle Hibiki hadn’t found them either considering she was barefoot.”

A lot of things here don’t make sense… Mainly… “Hibiki, how hadn’t you noticed you had left your room? Wouldn’t the distance have been weird to you?”

“To be honest I tend to walk in circles a LOT so…” Hibiki shrugs. “I felt a doorstep, figured I was on the right track but I couldn’t find the toilet! It was awful…”

“Hooold up there, D’Angelo!” Anni chimes in with a stern look, “You say the crash happened 20 minutes before the morning announcement, yea?”

Rosetta frowns at Anni, “Why yes, Okura, yes I did. So you’re not deaf after all.”

Anni shakes her head, “I can assure you that you didn’t hear anything like that.” She points to Chizuru who seems very nervous, “I was already awake 30 minutes before the announcement cause Chizuru had knocked on my door because she was scared of being alone.” She puts her hand on Chizuru’s shoulder, “Sorry to out ya, sweets.” She turned back to Rosetta, “I don’t know if you noticed but, my room is also next to Masuren’s room! You and I have the same possibility of hearing anything out of the ordinary! And guess what; there was no crash!”

Rosetta gives Anni a sharp glare, “You’re doubting me? Sorry but, I know for a fact there was a crash! Your simple claim isn’t enough to-”

“U-uhm… S-sorry D’Angelo but… Anni is right…” Chizuru’s voice was barely audible as she spoke, she looked almost scared to correct Rosetta. “P-partially…”

Anni looks proud at first but then confused, “Partially?”

Chizuru nods, “I… I, uhm, the reason I knocked w-was because I heard something… My room isn’t a-as close to Sasaki’s room as yours a-are but… I still heard a strange sound and I… I got scared…”

“When was this?” I tap my finger to my chin

“U-uhm… I think I w-was woken up by it a-around… 6:40?”

Anni furrows her eyebrows, “But… why didn’t you come to me earlier?”

Chizuru lowers her head in shame, “I… I wanted to b-but… When I opened my door… I saw someone in the hallway… I d-didn’t dare leave until I knew they were gone…”

“Chizuru…” I think for a moment, “Do you remember what they looked like…?”

Chizuru closes her eyes for a bit, “Uhm… I-I think… they wore a d-dress… either that or a long skirt…” She puts her hands over her face and shakes her head, “I-I’m sorry I can’t be of much help!”

Anni smiles a bit and pats Chizuru on the shoulder, “You’re very helpful, sweets. Don’t worry!”

“That… that you are.” I scan the room. “Alright… Dress or long skirt…” I close my eyes and open up my mental note-pad:

“Hibiki, Masuren, Ryo and Seijun all wear dresses… Ayase, Chizuru, both of the D’Angelo’s, Tomoko and I wear skirts…” I frown, “We can exclude Chizuru from this since she’s the one who saw them… Masuren was locked into the cafeteria by Monokuma’s demand…” I pause, “Chizuru… Are you sure that’s all you saw?”

Chizuru goes quiet for a moment and thinks. “Uhm… L-let’s see… They were s-standing outside of… Y-Yamashita’s room before they left…”

“Yamashita’s room? Did they knock or talk or anything?” I try to map out the scene in my head, which is easier said than done.

Chizuru shakes her head, “I… I don’t think so… A-actually, no! T-they did knock once! It w-was very faint though… I-it kinda sounded more like they were t-tapping but it was a knock!”

Atsuko tilts her head, “Maybe they did so as to not wake up the others?” But Chizuru shakes her head once again, “N-no. I, uhm, I think s-something prevented them from k-knocking more audibly…”

“Like… Like something was between their hand and the door?” Mitsu raises an eyebrow and Chizuru nods. “Y-yes! I don’t know for c-certain though…”

“So… dress or skirt and with something covering their hands… Let’s see…” I pull up my mental notepad again;

“Out of the ones that fit the first criteria… Masuren and Ryo wear gloves… And Seijun’s sleeves do cover her hands completely… Once again, I still think we can exclude Masuren from this considering where she was located at that time… Though…” I look over at Ryo and Seijun, “I… I don’t see any reason as to why either of the two others would be awake at that point… Less so why they’d be at Yamashita’s door…”

Mitsu has a small smile on her face as she puts her hand on Seijun’s head, “Seijun spent the night in my room. She followed me back to my room after the nighttime announcement instead of going to hers.”

“So…” I look over at Ryo, “You’re the main suspect right now, then…”

Ryo closes her eyes and smiles. “Oh dear, it seems as though I am!” She pulls out a new rose and holds it under her chin, “But I’m afraid you’ve been lied to by one of the people here!” She opens an eye and looks straight at me, “There’s someone other than me who has a much less supported alibi…”

I shake my head, “Stop trying to distract me. Everyone here has had at least one person confirm their whereabouts. Everyone but you-”

“She’s… She’s right…” Sabitsuki suddenly speaks up. “Monokuma… You… You never confirmed… if Sasaki was locked in… the cafeteria… the entire night...”

Monokuma bursts out laughing, “Well, well! Good job there, Zombie! Indeed! Sasaki was in the cafeteria before the morning announcement, but not the whole night!”

“But…” I look over at Masuren, “The cafeteria was locked, wasn’t it...?”

Monokuma chuckles, “Maybe you forgot it but I’ll remind you of one thing; the door was locked before she entered, yes. But-”

“Lockpicking.” Mitsu interrupted him, “The rules say you’re allowed to use that to open any locked door as long as the door doesn’t take damage…”

“Biiingo~!” Monokuma claps.

“B-but…” I keep my gaze on Masuren, “Why would she have any reason to do so? And… during such a time?”

“Sasaki… Was there a reason you had Monokuma get me and Saito to help you make the muffins…?” Tomoko’s voice is hesitant and almost afraid. “Neither of us have any experience in baking nor have we expressed an interest in it…”

Masuren fiddles with her gloves, “Y...you were the first ones I thought of!”

“But… You did all of the baking, all we did was look for flour and such in the warehouse…”

_‘I don’t like where this is going…’_

“Sasaki…” Tomoko tries to make eye contact with her, “Remaining silent only makes things worse…”

“Holy shit,” Hibiki gasps, “Squeezy killed Bubbles???”

Masuren slams her hands onto the podium, **“DON’T EVEN JOKE ABOUT THAT!”**

Atsuko taps her chin, “I… I was also kinda confused why she needed any help to begin with… I mean… She didn’t really let us help her with the batter outside of bringing flour and sugar…”

“Why are you doubting me, Atsuko???” Masuren bites her lip hard, “What motive would I even have for killing Shizuka anyways?”

Rosetta shakes her head, “I’ve already said why. Jealousy. I read your entry for Yamashita.”

Masuren freezes.

“Homura, would you be so kind to read it out to us?” Rosetta looks over at Mitsu who hesitates before opening up the notebook once again.

**_“Name: Shizuka Yamashita… Client time: Since four years ago. Status: Not complete…”_** Mitsu sighs, “D’Angelo this is just-”

“Bottom of the page, Homura.”

Mitsu shakes her head and reads ahead.

“Hm… **_Failed pairings: All of them… Reason: Lack of interest. Just like always… Personal notes on progress:”_** Mitsu furrows her brows before continuing: **_“I’m starting to think Shizuka isn’t even invested in getting my help anymore. She always agrees to everything but never tries to make anything happen. I’m not gonna let four years of work go to waste. But, if not even I can help her with this… no one can… If this next one doesn’t work out then…”_**

Mitsu closes her eyes. “... It just ends after that…”

Rosetta smirks, “And why does it end?”

Mitsu puts down the notebook, “... The page is missing…”

Rosetta scoffs, “Tell me, Sasaki. That family recipe of yours; it wasn’t the only thing on that page, was it?”

Masuren keeps quiet as she glares at Rosetta.

“Out with it, Sasaki. Or do you want Homura to read out the last page of your diary? You know…” Rosetta grins, “Your rant on your sexual fantasi-”

“Shut up…” Masuren clenches her fists, “You’re disgusting… You and your damn sister complex and your arrogance and your constant desire to talk down upon everyone you meet! You know nothing…”

“Admit it, Sasaki, you killed your precious little - and I quote - _‘seafood babe’_ -”

**“I DIDN’T KILL HER!!!”** Masuren pounds on the podium once again, shooting glares as sharp as knives at Rosetta, **“IT WAS YOUR FAULT SHE DIED!!!”**

Rosetta scoffs, “Oh yeah? How?”

“B-because… Because… You broke the vase! Y-you took the shards a-and…!”

“And what? Tell us. After all, you told me to.”

_‘What…?’_

There was silence. Only silence. It hurt…

“Sasaki… asked D’Angelo to break the vase…?” Tomoko is the one to speak up first. Rosetta nods, “Indeed. However, I didn’t want to. Her room is so painfully pink I didn’t want to set foot in there but she promised me that if I didn’t, she’d use me as a test dummy for her special recipe. Monokuma,” She looked over at the bear in question, “There’s no access to cyanide in this place, is there?”

Monokuma laughs, “Indeed! Pinky’s recipe was quite normal apart from that! And since not everything needed was available, why bother with a family recipe if you can’t make it perfect?”

Rosetta nodded, “Right, but there was a substitute, wasn’t there?”

“Right again! Monokuma’s Special Poison! I wasn’t sure about giving it to her since it wouldn’t follow the recipe but Pinky promised me a fun show if I let her use some~!”

“But…” Something doesn’t feel right, “Yamashita didn’t die from poison… She died from a sliced throat!”

Rosetta smirks, “Exactly, and I think that’s why Sasaki needed the broken shards. To kill the victim and the killer - herself. If I’m not mistaken, if she had been able to properly go through with this plan; the case would be unsolvable since the only culprit wouldn’t be able to be punished. And as a result, Monokuma would have to settle for the next best thing. That being me in this situation since I provided what would be the murder weapon, the glass shards.”

Masuren glares at Rosetta, her fury brighter than anything I’ve seen before.

“I already said this before the trial but I’ll repeat it. Who chose Yamashita’s muffin? Herself. Masuren knew that it was a risky plan and-”

“She knew if Yamashita died…” I continue the thought, “She would be a main suspect… She couldn’t control who would chose the muffin with the shards… But she could control who took the one with the poison since…” I think back, “It was the one at the very bottom…” I look over at Masuren, “You… you made sure everyone had grabbed a muffin… You even started handing out the last few ones towards the end…”

Silence.

“Masu… I… I’m sorry…” I look down at my hands, “I… I’m so sorry… But…” I look back up, clenching my fists, “Masu… Masuren Sasaki… You’re Yamashita’s killer, aren’t you? Whether… whether you intended it to be her or not…”

Masuren kept silent. She gave me a look of both fury and pleading. It hurt so much… Though I can’t imagine how she feels right now…

“Aaaaalrighty then! That’s all the time we have for debates sooo~!” Monokuma clapped his paws and pointed out towards us, “Everyone, please get your e-Handbooks out! You will find an option called ‘Vote’! Use this to place your vote on whoever you think the culprit is! If the majority of you all are right, only they will suffer! If not, YOU WILL ALL SUFFER~!”

There were sounds of beeping throughout the gym hall. We all got our e-Handbooks and, indeed, the new option was there. I hesitantly pressed it and was greeted by the 16 names of us all. Shizuka included… I look up at Masuren who is staring at her own tablet.

_‘I’m so sorry, Masu…’_

I select Masuren’s name.

The app closes and the screen goes black. I hear a loud motorized sound from above. I look up to see a huge TV screen descending down from above. Monokuma grins, “Let’s see what you all chose~!”

The screen lights up. Our names are all displayed. One by one, most names pop out of existence, and with each name that goes - Masuren’s name grows bigger. Eventually, only her name and Rosetta’s name are on the screen. A small pink ‘x’ appears under Rosetta’s name before it, too, goes away. Masuren’s name is all that’s left.

Monokuma claps his paws, “Congratulations! You all got it right! Except for Pinky who placed her grudge onto D’Ego! Sorry gal, but they caught ya!”

Masuren lowers her head.

“Masu…”

“No. You all already know why I did it. I’m not going to explain further…” She looks over at Monokuma, “You… you can show them the note…”

Monokuma tilts his head, “Note? Oh you mean your plan? Sorry! I lost it~ Guess you won’t get a redemption huh~? Only you know the story but unfortunately we’re running low on time~!”

Masuren’s eyes widen, “W-wha-”

Two metal claws shoot up from the ground and grab Masuren in a tight grip. A third one shoots up with a syringe.

“Time is money, Pinky! And right now I’m not earning anything from your confusion~! We had an agreement and this is the price! Masuren Sasaki, the Ultimate Matchmaker~ Pay the price! It’s punishment time~!”

As he says this, the third claw injects the fluid within the syringe into Masuren’s arm. The floor below her opens and her body falls into the pit. The TV screen goes into static before switching to a new view… Masuren’s view...


	6. Chapter 1: Dancing on Knives [Execution]

A bright pink flower bed greets Masuren’s fall into the pit. Birds are chirping… Butterflies are dancing… She lets out a sigh of relief. She’s safe. She’s going to be okay! The butterflies flutter towards her and she reaches out a hand for them to land on. They ignore her hand and keep flying towards her.

“Well isn’t that odd?” She would ask herself with a smile. “I suppose you’re more interested in my pin?”

More butterflies appeared around her and approached her. She smiled and sat back to relax. They would land on her skin and tickle her with their wings. Drops of nectar appeared on her cheeks and poured down into her lap. A beautiful, warm deep red nectar flowed from her skin. It tickles! It stings… It hurts.

Masuren slaps at the butterflies, cutting her hand on the needles around her. There were no butterflies, no flowers, no birds. Only needles and knives… No nectar, only blood. She screams. The needles jab into her face once more. She attempts to escape. She runs away from the needles. Far, far away until she can no longer see them. Everything turns red and dark, her eyes hurt so incredibly much. She reaches up to cover them only to feel more needles into her eyelids. She screams once more, falling to her knees as she tries to open her eyes. Soon after, she feels a sharp stabbing pain in her chest. She reaches for it, finding a thick spear having pierced her heart.

She collapses without another sound, and continues to bleed...


	7. Chapter 2: Bittersweet Smiles [Daily Life] [Day 1]

The images wouldn’t leave my head. Shizuka’s hanging corpse, blood dripping from her mouth. Masuren running in fear, only to be impaled by spikes. Monokuma laughing the entire time… None of it would leave. Neither could we…

I stare up at the ceiling above me, I hadn’t gotten a minute of sleep after that. I doubt anyone had… I roll over and stare at the bathroom door for a while, as if I was scared of something coming out from the bathroom to kill me.

I’ve never been afraid of monsters or ghosts, I’ve found them to be amusing more than anything. But with Monokuma being able to pop up literally anywhere he wanted and at any time. That scares me.

A loud knock on the door causes me to freeze up. “Oh god, please don’t tell me he can read my thoughts…”

The door remains closed. The knock appears again, and along with it, a voice.

“Sumadera… Open please. It’s Etsucho.”

_‘Etsucho…? Suzuta? What could she want at this time? And from me of all people…?’_

I’m doubtful, I quietly get out of bed and approach the door, “How… How do I know you’re not lying? O-or here to kill me?”

There’s silence. After a bit I hear a sigh, “I can’t disprove your latter claim with words but I can prove it’s me. I finished reading the Ultimates book, you know, the one you couldn’t get out of the bookshelf?”

_‘I… I had completely forgotten about that!’_

“Oh right! Uhm… Hold on!” I back away from the door and take a quick look in the bathroom mirror. I look tired but not destroyed… Would it be weird to braid my hair just so I look okay when Etsucho comes in…? Yes, it probably would.

I hurry back over to the door and open it slightly, just enough to jump in surprise at Etsucho’s eyes staring right at me. Yep, that’s her. I open the door fully and she steps inside.

Just like me, she’s wearing pajamas, which is understandable, it’s around 4AM. Hers, however, are not how I expected them to be. Or they’re exactly what I expected them to be. Light green with smiling flowers all over. It’s almost the same green as mine, the difference of course being that mine has cubes instead.

She takes a couple of steps into my room and looks around, “... Seems simple enough…” she mumbles to herself before grabbing the chair by my desk and sitting down on it. “Anyways, sorry for the sudden visit. I would apologize for waking you up but judging by how fast you responded, I doubt I need to.” She let out a small chuckle.

“Haha, y-yeah… I haven’t slept all night. I’m guessing you haven’t either?” I sit down on my bed and force a small smile. It’s always easier to write dialogue in games than it is to speak to other people…

She shook her head, “I’ve been sleeping on and off. I woke up an hour ago and finished reading the book.” She held up the book in question, “Unfortunately… I couldn’t find any other mentions of that one case. The pages were all either ripped out or the information was blacked out. I have two theories of why this is.” She set the book down on the desk, “It’s either that this information is hurtful to whoever is doing all this or some damn brat’s stupid prank.”

“So it’s either useless or a waste of time…” I mumbled to myself.

Etsucho leaned back in the chair, “That’s one way to put it. While that one case is gone, there were more concerning thing in that book.”

I look up at her, “Concerning? Like what?”

“I found a name mentioned in the text. Ryuzaki.”

“R- Ryuzaki? L-like. Seijun?” My heart had suddenly sped up. How could she be-

“It wasn’t _‘our’_ Ryuzaki,” She smiled softly, “I think the full name was Yuuki Ryuzaki. There was a picture tucked between the pages, too. Here.” She held out a small photograph and I took it.

It was a full-body mugshot.

The girl on the photograph looked nothing like Seijun. She was tall, her hair was all messy and grey. Everything but her bright, piercing pink eyes had a dull shade. A huge grin was on her face, showing a set of shark-like teeth. Her eyes… her eyes sent chills down my spine. They had the look of someone who’d seen death and laughed in his face. I shuddered.

Etsucho took the picture from me, “From what I read, she was an expert asylum escapee. She was delusional and was convinced that the school was calling to her. She’d claim to be the Ultimate Escapist. She one day succeeded. She managed to get into the school somehow. Whether it was through invitation or a break-in is unclear.” She looked at the picture for a bit, “She wasn’t here for long it seems. She was suddenly gone after only two weeks. They think she escaped the school. Some people claimed she’d killed herself. Others said she was arrested.” She put the picture back in the book, “It’s probably the most twisted take on ‘you can be anything you put your mind to’ in my opinion.”

“Jesus… So, they don’t know where she is?” I look around my room nervously, as if expecting to see her in the corner.

Etsucho nodded, “Seems like it… There was another oddity at the bottom of the page too. Here, take a look.” She handed the book to me and I opened the page.

**_“... After several investigations and interviews with asylum workers, police discovered that Ryuzaki Yuuki might have been involved in - and escaped from - … … …”_** The end of the sentence had been blacked out. I stare at it, “It’s… gone? Do you think…” I look up at Etsucho and she nods at me, “I think they could be connected.”

I close the book and give it back to Etsucho, “That’s… I don’t know how to feel about that, honestly.”

Etsucho just shrugs, “If you’d like, we could ask Seijun if she knows about her.”

I nod, it’s going to be hard to ask her about something like that, but it’s worth it. “We should probably wait until she’s awake, though,” I look at the clock, “It’s only like 5AM. But, with this new information, I’m not sure I’ll be able to sleep at all…”

Etsucho chuckles a bit, “I understand. Why don’t we try to lighten the mood? What made you want to make games?” She leans back in the chair.

“Oh! Uhm… I suppose it was out of fascination? When I was younger I’d always wonder how the games were made and how they would have so many different events and dialogue based on - for example - items you have in your inventory.” I shuffled around on my bed and sat with my back against the wall. “I would go out of my way to talk to any NPC that showed change in dialogue every time I got a new item, completed a quest, saw a cutscene and so on. I remember being a bit frustrated that not all of them would react to every new thing. They wouldn’t care if I held the legendary sword, they just wanted to talk about how the fish in the ponds were no longer green after I poured potions into it in the tutorial!”

Etsucho started laughing, “Man, you’re really passionate about that stuff, huh? I’ve never seen anyone look so angry at such a small thing. Well, apart from literally anything D’Angelo says.”

“That’s fair,” I chuckle but then I start thinking about yesterday again. “...Why do you think Masu asked D’Angelo to help her? They don’t seem to get along so I don’t understand why she’d help her…”

Etsucho shakes her head, “I honestly have no idea. I would suggest we ask her but… I doubt she’d tell us.” She taps her chin, “But maybe her sister knows. They seem closer than anyone, D’Angelo undoubtedly told her sister about it.”

I nod, that’s a really good idea! Plus I do want to get to know Gilda more, she seems so calm and sweet. A complete opposite of her older sister. Though I’m sure that I’ll grow to like Rosetta too… I hope.

“Hey Etsucho, I was wondering something.”

“... What?” She gives me a look, it’s not distrusting or anything, but something about it sends a chill down my spine.

“A-ah I-I uhm… I-Is that your natural h-hair color?”

_‘Seriously, Nayoko…?’_

Etsucho bursts out laughing. Her broad shoulders shaking up and down as she wipes a tear from her eye. “What? This lime green mess? Heavens, no!” She grins at me, “I’m actually blonde but I like green and red better.”

“I see! It suits you- wait, red?” I raise an eyebrow at her and she smiles.

She reaches her hands up and removes the flower in her hair, all of it falls down to her shoulders. The very tips of her green hair had a red tint!

“It’s partially also so that it blends in together with the flower.” She nods at the accessory in question.

I stare at her hair and then the flower, “Is… is it real?”

She laughs again, “No no! That’d be cruel to such a gorgeous plant! It’s simply fabric, quite soft too. Weighs almost nothing.” She picks it up and leans over to me. Close to me. She’s so near my face…

Click.

She leans back and smiles, “There! See? Weighs close to nothing!”

I lift my hand to my hair and find that Etsucho has attached the flower to my hair! She’s right! It barely weighs anything! I touch the petals. Indeed… they’re really soft. “I can see why you like this thing so much!” I nod and give her a small smile.

She nods as well, “Mhm… It’s a type of lily, as is this.” She points to her cheek which has a light purple flower painted on it. “Impulse tattoo but with something I love so it’s all good.”

“T-that’s a tattoo??? On your face? Didn’t that hurt?”

“Goodness yes! I was sure I was gonna start crying! But I pulled through!” She crosses her arms over her chest. “But, I don’t recommend getting facial tattoos.” She shakes her head.

_‘Etsucho? Crying? I’ll die before I see that happen, I’m sure!’_

“Don’t worry, I wasn’t thinking of getting any tattoos anyways. I don’t think they suit me.”

Etsucho looks me over, from head to toe. The attention is a little embarrassing. She chuckles to herself after apparently coming to a conclusion. “I think you might be right about that. You don’t strike me as that kind of person. Now that I look at you… you don’t seem like the kind of person who would wear anything but clothes upon yourself.”

“Uh… What?” I genuinely have no idea what she’s talking about.

“Y’know… like, makeup and that stuff. You seem like an all natural person. No offence of course, that can be a good thing to be.” She gives me an awkward smile. “Natural beauty and all that.”

‘Natural beauty… Huh.’ I’ve never really thought about it before. I don’t dislike my appearance per se. I’m just a tad bit overweight but that’s about it really. ‘Wait did Etsucho just call me beautiful, then?’

…

I’m probably thinking too much about it.

“Haha, I suppose so yeah. I’ve never really been any good at applying anything really. So I just kinda don’t. But no offence taken, I promise!” I shoot her an awkward smile as well and she simply nods.

No one really had anything to say for quite a while...

“Hey, uhm. Etsucho?”

She raises an eyebrow at me, “Hm? What’s up?”

“Are you scared?” my question was barely but a whisper.

She tilts her head and thinks for a moment. “... I suppose it’d be weird if I wasn’t. But I’m not really scared for my own sake. More so for those here that would not be able to defend themselves in the grip of danger. Like Ryuzaki or Moto. Or maybe even Saito.” She taps her chin, “So I’d say… yes, sort of.”

I simply just nod at her words. She seems very kind and caring, even despite her intimidating looks. Yeah, Atsuko would probably not be able to do anything if she was in danger with how gullible she can be…

“What about you? Are you scared?” She returns the question to me and I have to think for a bit.

“... Yeah, I’m kinda scared. Both for myself and the others. Sure I’ve made games with similar types of situations-”

“You have?” Her voice was almost… cold. I felt a shiver in my whole body.

“T-they’re just games though!” I wave my hands in front of me, almost defensively. “I wouldn’t recreate them!”

She just kinda stares at me for a second, scanning my expression.

She lets out a sigh, “Sorry. I don’t know why I started doubting you. Man, this place is weird…” She leans to the side in the chair. “You saw the spare clothes, yeah? That’s kinda creepy, don’t you think? Same size, same style. Hell, my drawers even had a spare flower!” She shakes her head, “It’s so weird.”

She’s right. It is weird. How do they get that information? From where, or who? The thought makes me even more paranoid. I look over at the clock, “Huh… time passes quite quick… It’s already 7AM… Could’ve sworn it was 5AM just a minute ago.”

Etsucho chuckles a little, “Well, we have been talking for quite a bit, haven’t we?” She gets up and stretches. Her big arms arching over her head. There’s an occasional ‘pop’ sound from her bones. She starts to crack her knuckles and then claps her hands together as a finale of some sort.

“... Whatcha staring at?” The question wasn’t really aggressive, just a bit… teasing?

“I-I uhm. Nothing. Sorry.” I just kinda get up from the bed and try to do the same.

She just starts laughing. “You’ve never really done that before, have you? Cause it shows. You gotta lean a bit further than that.” She repeats what she had done, but slower.

I can hear every bone in my body. Every single one. It terrifies me.

“The knuckle thing is optional, of course.” She smiles at me, seemingly approving of my bone-popping fest. “So, should we check if D’Angelo or Ryuzaki are awake?”

“Y-yes! But I’d like to get changed into my clothes first…”

“Yeah of course, I’m gonna do the same anyways. Meet you in the hallway?” She turns for the door.

“Yeah! Meet you there!” I say before she leaves.

Once she’s left I just sit back down on the bed, staring at the floor for a bit…

There was a split second where she seems to have doubted me, she didn’t look scared, just… Cautious. I shake my head and get back up, opening the drawers and changing into my day clothes, throwing the pyjamas on the bed. I hoist the bag over my shoulder, grab and put on my glasses and braid my hair.

Then, I head out.

The hallway is empty, Etsucho must still be working on her clothes… I scan the doors, two of them have been completely barred off. I approach them and read the door plates.

**_‘Masuren Sasaki’_ **

**_‘Shizuka Yamashita’_ **

… I shudder. What if more people die? Will their rooms be barred off as well?

There’s another door that catches my interest, one that’s slightly open. I approach it and read the plate.

**_‘Hibiki Moto’_ **

and underneath it is a series of… dots? They look elevated. I pass my finger over the dots, they feel kinda funny against my skin.

Oh right! Hibiki’s blind so this must be braille. That’s a bit nice that they added that for her.

I think back to what Hibiki said the day before:

_**“I never close my door, I like keeping it open in case anyone wants to have some fun~”** _

There’s a brief moment where I’m tempted to look into her room but… I shake my head and step away from the door, bumping into something behind me. I turn around, expecting to see my demise but…

“I see you too were curious.” Etsucho chuckles at me, looking at the door plate, “It’s pretty sweet that they added that.”

“Y-yeah! Haha… Ahem, so should we?” I try avoiding eye contact, it’s pretty easy considering she’s way taller than me.

“Sure, who to first?”

“Hm…” I look around the hallway. “How about Gilda?”

“Got it.” And with that, she marches over to Gilda’s door and knocks on it.

A voice from inside the room speaks, “One moment!” before opening. Gilda peeks her head out and looks up at Etsucho with a smile. “Ah, Miss Suzuka, yes? How nice to see you!” She looks over at me, still by Hibiki’s door. “Good morning to you too, Miss Sumadera!”

I give her a silent wave and walk over to Etsucho.

“Good morning D’Angelo. We have a question for you, if that’s alright.” Etsucho - thankfully - initiates conversation about it, letting me draw a mental sigh of relief.

Gilda seems to be very happy at that, “Why of course! What is your question?”

“... Did your sister tell you anything about… you know.”

Gilda’s smile drops. “Ah… Uhm.” She scratches her cheek, “Well… Yes and no. Rosetta said that Miss Sasaki had been pestering her during the night. But she didn’t say much else.” She bows her head, “Sorry if that’s not the answer you were looking for. Maybe you should ask her? Then again, I’m not sure if she’d say much…” She sighs but puts her smile back on. “Is there anything else you need?”

Etsucho shakes her head, “No, that was all. Thank you for answering.” She gives Gilda a small smile.

“Alrighty! I’ll see you guys later then!” She says, smiling at us both before closing the door.

Etsucho scratches the back of her neck and looks down at me, “... Should we check on Ryuzaki?”

I nod and we walk over to her door, knocking on it. And waiting.

And waiting… and waiting…

“Is she still asleep perhaps?” Etsucho knocks one more time, a bit harder this time and I hear a chuckle from behind me. I turn around to see Mitsu, leaning against the doorframe to her room, arms crossed and a smirk on her face. “She’s not in there,” she says.

“Well… do you know where sh-” I stop myself as I see the girl in question peeking out from behind Mitsu. I give her a small smile. Her scared look… Maybe asking her isn’t such a good idea right now… She waves at me and Etsucho before disappearing into Mitsu’s room again. Mitsu looks over at us once more, “She asked me if she could stay with me for the night. Yesterday was… Awful, let’s say.” She frowns a bit at the memory and glances over to Rosetta’s door with almost a spiteful look before turning back to us. “What did ya need her for?”

“Ah- Uhm… W-we just-”

“We wanted to ask her if she had any siblings.” Etsucho cuts me off.

“Siblings? How so? Just curiosity?” She tilts her head at us, the purple streak in her hair hanging over her eyepatch.

“W-well… We-”

Etsucho walks over to Mitsu and hands her the book, directing her to the page about Yuuki. Mitsu frowns, “Hm… Well I haven’t asked her about her family at all yet so I wouldn’t really know… This girl looks like trouble though, her eyes freak me out. I think it might just be a coincidence that their last names are the same.” She shrugs and gives the book and photo back to Etsucho who puts it in her pocket. “I see. That could be the case… You seem to be close to her, and quickly so, do you think you could ask her at some point?”

Mitsu nods, “Will do. I guess I-”

A loud bell rings throughout the building, followed by his voice:

_**“Goooooooood mooooorniiiiiiiiiing ducklings~! Let’s get ready for another terribly amazing day~!”** _

Mitsu grits her teeth at the announcement. “That damn thing…” She lets out a sigh and turns back to her room, “I don’t know if you guys are going to the cafeteria but if you do, don’t expect us to be there early.” She closes the door behind her.

I’m in a weird way happy that the bell rung, as this means the cafeteria IS open, and I am starving. I look over at Etsucho and she just chuckles, “Yeah I feel ya. Should we g--”

A door slams open and out she comes, “I’M AWAKE, FUCKERS! I’M HERE, I’M DEAR AND I’LL SPLIT YOU IN TWO!” and a couple seconds later Atsuko comes out from her own room and looks at us almost apologetically. She starts talking to Hibiki for a bit before rushing past us with Hibiki following behind her.

“... Well that certainly happened. Let’s just go.” Etsucho turns and walks after them, and I, after her.

As we enter the cafeteria, we see that some people have already arrived. Of course, Atsuko and Hibiki are there, as is Ayase, Rosetta, Anni, Chizuru and… Sabitsuki who, as usual, looks destroyed. Etsucho nods at me before leaving me at the entrance in favor of talking to Sabitsuki. I feel a bit rejected somehow but I quickly brush it off and walk towards the other end of the room. There’s a large breakfast buffet laid out. Everything from bacon and eggs to toast to pancakes. Any and all breakfast items seem to be present. At the ends of the buffet are plates and cutlery.

My stomach starts growling, loudly so. It’s a bit embarrassing but no one seems to notice, and if they do, they’re not reacting. I grab myself a plate and load up on pancakes and bacon. They even have whipped cream, syrup and other condiments! If it wasn’t for the fact that we’re trapped here against our will, I’d be completely overjoyed.

Well, maybe I am a little happy that we get proper, and really good, meals. As I’m pouring syrup over the tower of pancakes I realize that… Apart from the muffins Masuren had made, we didn’t eat all day yesterday. Maybe that’s why I feel so… empty.

I bring my plate over to an empty table and dig in, I feel like an animal and probably look like one too, I’ve never been one to look graceful while eating.

As I’m eating, I fail to notice that someone has sat at my table with me, and hadn’t it been for the chuckle they let out, I probably would’ve kept eating. I look up at whoever is sitting in front of me and I’m met with bright yellow eyes.

“Goodness me, Sumadera~ Hungry, are we? I can’t blame you. The food here is divine~!” Ayase lets out another chuckle as I put down my fork briefly.

“Y-yeah, it’s really good.” I give her an awkward laugh in return, honestly just a little bit creeped out by her. Maybe she’s like this with everyone.

… I don’t know if I hope that’s the case or not.

She pokes at the fried egg that’s remaining on her plate, “I hope you slept alright, even if yesterday was…” she looks up at me, a small glint in her eyes, “Less than ideal, let’s say.”

I swallow loudly. _‘Ayase I don’t like the way you talk right now…’_

I just tilt my head from side to side, “I… Didn’t get too much sleep, to be honest. I woke up at like, 4AM and have been awake since.” I pause briefly, “Suzuta came knocking at my door and almost scared me half to death.”

This seems to peak her interest, she raises an eyebrow and smirks, “Is that so~? Why is that?”

“W-well, uhm…” I hesitate. Should I tell her about the book? About the picture? Would she find it suspicious? Or…

“Is something the matter, dear~?” Okay her face is a bit too close to mine now, I lean back in my chair and wave my hand, “N-no not at all! I’m just very tired. It’s a bit hard to remember things right now.” I laugh a bit, she doesn’t join in. Instead she looks my face over, almost scanning it. After a while she just smiles, “I see, well that is understandable, being awake for such a long time.” She looks over at Sabitsuki, “Just be careful to not turn into poor little Takara.”

I nod, “Y-yeah I’ll be careful.” I hurry up to finish my breakfast before standing up, “W-well I guess I’ll be leaving.”

Ayase looks a bit hurt, “I see. Well, I won’t stalk you too much then~” She waves at me and I speed walk over to the door, not noticing Etsucho waving at me.

Once I’m out of the cafeteria, I let out a sigh. “God she can be… creepy…”

“That’s not very nice of you to say, Sumadera,” a deep voice speaks as it goes past me, making me jump. But, I don’t recognize the woman who just walked past me. The green hair looks incredibly familiar but… The clothes don’t match up.

She notices me staring and stops, turning to face me, hands on her hips, “Is something wrong? Do I look that terrible?” That voice… That face... Is it really?

“Hisakawa?” Is all that leaves my mouth and I’m met with a laugh.

“Oh I see. I do look strange dressed like this, don’t I?” She gestures to herself. The bubblegum zipper top that’s way too open way too far down. The grey sweatpants. The bracelets. The tattoos. I can do nothing but nod silently.

She laughs a bit again, “Well, it seems like I was provided with some more colorful clothes than what I wore when I got here. I personally welcome the change. Those clothes were getting a bit too small for me.” She reaches her hand up to scratch at the back of her neck.

_‘And these AREN’T?’_

  
“I see. W-well I just got copies of what I was already wearing. I guess we aren’t all as lucky? Haha…”

Tomoko just gives me a strange look, “Well, I do think your clothes fit you. It’s a good aesthetic for you.”

I simply nod. If her previous top was revealing as it was, this one is way more so. It looks cold, having the zipper all the way down to her stomach and with nothing underneath…

I hear fingers snapping and look up, faced with a mildly annoyed expression from Tomoko, “Oh please, don’t tell me you’re as bad as Moto.”

I put my hands up in defence, “N-No! Sorry I just- I’m- It just sticks out, y-you know?”

She scans my face before sighing, “I suppose it’s partially on me as well.” She reaches down to the zipper, “It’s also just… It’s a little hard to close. I’m sure you understand.” She smiles a little, “Well, I’m going to get some breakfast, I’ll see you later.” She waves at me as she enters the cafeteria.

I bring my hands up to my face and lightly slap my cheek, “What the hell are you doing, Nayoko??? Get it together…”

I start walking and on my way to the dorms, Mitsu and Seijun pass by. Seijun seems a bit on edge, but relaxes a bit after Mitsu puts a hand on her shoulder. I can make out very few words from Seijun as I walk past.

“... Didn’t know… You sure that…”

Could it be Mitsu asked about the girl in the photograph? Then again, it might be completely unrelated. I’m probably just paranoid. But should I really be? That girl can’t be here… Unless she’s on another floor. I did see a blocked off staircase when I was heading for the library before.

I’m thinking too much… I pull out my e-Handbook and look over the map. Apparently they have a computer room somewhere? That might be a nice place to visit. I trace the map with my finger and start making my way to the computer room.

Upon arriving, I’m a little disappointed. The room is very small, in fact it only has a single desk and chair with a laptop on it. No light, no plants, no decorations. I was of course, expecting something a bit more… well, more. I sigh and sit down in the chair, it’s not particularly comfortable either. I start up the laptop and am immediately greeted with a password screen. Great, so I can’t even use the damn thing.

… I try out different words; **_Monokuma - denied. Hope - denied. HPA - denied…_**

Eventually I run out of words to try and just start hitting random letters and numbers.

Nothing. I decide to give up and leave the room, closing the door behind me, going back down to the first floor.

For a long while, nothing really noteworthy happens. Hibiki and Etsucho are arguing. Ryo spends most of her time in the library. I overheard Gilda and Seijun talking about doing some drawing together. Nothing special.

Just normal stuff. Well, as normal as it can be in this sort of situation. As I walk past the dorms and walk past Masuren’s room, I feel my stomach turn. Yesterday she had mentioned a note she wanted Monokuma to show us. A plan or something? Had it been the murder plan? Or was it something else? Monokuma said he’d thrown it away, so I suppose we won’t find out.

Something else pops into my mind. The day before… I saw her watching Shizuka and Tomoko… When she saw us, it looked like she threw something away. I think about it for a bit. It couldn’t be the plan, could it? Maybe I should-

A hand rests itself on my shoulder, causing me to jump. I turn around and I’m greeted by a pair of orange eyes. Tomoko.

“Everything alright, Sumadera? You were just standing there for a while. Something on your mind?” She gives me a warm smile.

“A-actually. I want to ask you something, Hisakawa. If that’s alright?”

She nods, “Of course, ask away!”

“Well… Back when we were all investigating the building, you and Yamashita grouped together, yea? I saw you two talking when me and some others were walking to the library…”

She snaps her fingers and grins, “Oh yeah! I noticed you guys staring just a bit. It was a little unnerving.”

“R-right, sorry about that. May I just ask… what were you two talking about?”

Tomoko puts a hand on her chin and furrows her eyebrows, “Hm… Well at first we were discussing the layout. We had originally planned on covering the other side of the building but Yamashita convinced me that we should check the classrooms.” She taps her chin, “From there we just kinda talked about all sorts of things.”

“Like what?”

“Well… Yamashita told me about her friendship with Sasaki, it was quite endearing. Apparently they’ve known each other since childhood!” She smiles at me, “Though she did voice some complaints about Sasaki’s services. Something about not wanting a partner or having changed her mind. Not really sure.”

I hesitate “Did you see Masuren…?”

Tomoko looks at me with a confused expression, “No? I hadn’t seen her since breakfast that day. Why?”

I swallow a bit, “W-well… I saw her watching you guys from one of the classrooms.”

Tomoko frowns at me, “I… I see…”

“... Do you think Yamashita set it up?”

“Changing our area to voice her thoughts about Sasaki? Might be… I didn’t really take her for someone like that. Maybe she was just too scared to do it directly.”

I pause, “That would explain why Masuren wasn’t given an area to investigate, she must’ve sneaked off before we were assigned them.”

Tomoko nods slowly, “Might be, might be. Is that what you’ve been worrying about?”

“Well, yes and no… I think I’ll go back there and just check the classrooms for myself.” I’m not subtle, and Tomoko picks up on that. She smiles at me, “Don’t worry, I’ll come with.” She pats me on the shoulder and turns around, already walking with big steps, “Let’s go.”

I have to run a little to catch up, Tomoko is pretty tall and as such, she has longer legs for longer strides. But, we do get there a lot faster because of that. She stops and turns around to look at me, “Well? Something in particular you wanted to check?”

I nod and walk over to the door Masuren had hid behind that day and take a peek inside. It’s rather dark and I’m fumbling to find the light switch. When I do, the room looks just like any normal classroom. Except for the fact that on the chalkboard it says **_“Today’s lesson: UnBEARable equations!”_**

I just groan before looking around properly.

On the floor, under one of the desks, is a crumpled up piece of paper. Could this be? I reach down and pick it up, trying to smoothen it out. I’m greeted with a handwriting I can only describe as ‘bouncy’.

Yes, this has got to be hers.

I feel a hand on my shoulder once more as Tomoko leans over to look at it.

Bits of it has been stricken out and rewritten.

~~**_[“Shi, I’m honestly hurt at what you said about me to Tomo, I didn’t know you felt that way-”]_ ** ~~

~~**_[“Shi, you could have just told me directly-”]_ ** ~~

_**“Shizuka, I’m sorry my services haven’t been as good as I hoped they would be. ~~[I just did what I could] [I just wanted to]~~ I might have misunderstood what you’d been looking for at the time, or if you were talking about a partner generally. ~~[The description you gave me wasn’t] [You if anyone know]~~ I try to take my job very seriously and ~~[I work really hard]~~ I try my absolute best to make each pairing a perfect one. But hearing you say those things about ~~[me]~~ my work was incredibly hurtful. I understand if it’s been frustrating, not being properly understood in what you wanted. ~~[It’s been frustrating for me too]~~ I’ll step back from our agreement for a while, try to process your words, and come up with something that might work better.** _

**_~~[Forever yours] [With love]~~ Masuren ~~[♡]~~ ”_ **

Tomoko and I just stand in silence for a while, just staring at the text, rereading it over and over.

Finally, Tomoko breaks the silence, “I see… Maybe that’s why she tried to… You know. Kill herself?” She shakes her head, “A job like that would require you to be able to take criticism, wouldn’t it?”

I pause, thinking back to what Mitsu had read from Masuren’s diary entry.

**_Name: Shizuka Yamashita… Client time: Since four years ago. Status: Not complete…_ **

“They worked together for four years, though. Didn’t they? And… Masuren said they’ve known each other since they were kids. I think four years is a little late to bring something like that up…”

Tomoko looks at me, then at the paper, “I suppose that’s true. It always hurts more when it comes from a close friend.” She chuckles a little, “But that’s what friends do, be honest. However, not everyone can do it in the right ways…”

I nod. It’s true. Being friends with someone doesn’t mean to shower them with endless love. It means to help them tackle things in a better way, supporting them and guiding them. Perhaps that’s what Masuren tried to do…

I fold the paper and put it in my bag, unless Mitsu or Rosetta kept Masuren’s diary, this might be the only remaining piece we have of her here.

“Is there anything else you wanted to do here?” Tomoko asks me, her hand still lingering on my shoulder. I shake my head, “No, I think that was all. T-thank you. Uhm, for coming with.”

Tomoko smiles at me and lets go of me before leaving with a wave.

I stand still for a bit and just look around the room. It’s completely normal. Incredibly basic. It’s just a classroom with a terrible pun on the chalkboard.

Feeling… Well not exactly satisfied, with my find, I take my leave as well.

The rest of the day is normal. Well, there’s definitely a sense of tension in the air, especially around Rosetta and Mitsu. But other than that it’s all okay.

As I finally get ready for bed, I hear a knock on my door. I check the buttons on my pajamas before opening the door.

There stands Seijun in her own pair of pajamas. Light pink and red, no pattern. She gives me a small smile, “U-uhm Mitsu told me you were asking i-if I had siblings. I… I don’t think I do.”

I tilt my head, “You don’t **think** you do?” She shakes her head at me, “N-no. I don’t.”

“I see… Thank you, Ryuza---”

“Please! Call me Sei!” She smiles brightly at me and I can’t help but smile back, “Alright, Sei. Thank you.”

She claps her small hands together and leaves, “Goodnight Nayo!”

“Goodnight Sei.” I smile and wave as she goes into her own room.

I close my door and reach into my bag, pulling out Masuren’s note. I reread it once more. “Maybe I should show this to Suzuta tomorrow… Or maybe she’s awake still? … I don’t want to bother her at this hour… I think I’ll just do it tomorrow.” I fold the paper once more and put it on my nightstand before turning off the lights and going to sleep.


End file.
